ARA-290 / Cibinetide

ID: ara290_cibinetide

Aliases: ARA-290, cibinetide, innate repair receptor peptide

Type: compound

Route/form: subcutaneous injection in published human investigational contexts

Status: investigational

Evidence level: early human

Best data tier: early human + human controlled/review

Support scope: human, non-human/mechanistic

Source types: early_human, human_rct, human_trial, preclinical

Linked sources: 7

Broad outcomes: Brain / mood / sleep, Gut / immune / inflammation, Muscle growth / performance / recovery, Pain / addiction / acute care, Skin / wound repair

Reading note: These are curation notes anchored to linked sources, not a clinical recommendation or protocol.

Targets / mechanism

• innate repair receptor / EPOR-CD131 complex hypothesis
• non-erythropoietic erythropoietin-derived tissue-protective signaling
• small fiber neuropathy endpoints
• corneal nerve fiber density
• tissue repair and innate immune modulation

Optimization domains

• neuropathy
• pain
• neuroprotection
• inflammation
• small fiber neuropathy
• diabetic macular edema
• wound healing
• immune
• tissue repair

Research basis

• ARA-290/cibinetide has more human context than many fringe peptides: sarcoidosis-associated small-fiber neuropathy data include symptom and corneal nerve-fiber-density signals, and a phase 2 diabetic macular edema trial adds another disease-specific clinical anchor.
• The mechanistic rationale is relatively specific: an erythropoietin-derived, non-erythropoietic peptide intended to activate tissue-protective innate repair receptor signaling without raising red-cell mass like EPO.
• Preclinical diabetic wound, colitis, and islet-allograft studies support tissue-repair and innate-immune modulation breadth, but still need disease-context interpretation.

Limits, risks, and missing evidence

• Evidence remains narrow and disease-context specific; use for vague recovery, PFS/autonomic symptoms, mitochondrial symptoms, or general wellness is extrapolation.
• Endpoint translation is uncertain: pain/neuropathy, retinal edema, islet grafts, colitis, and wound healing are not interchangeable use cases.
• Formulation, route, dose, and clinical monitoring matter because the human literature is investigational, not a supplement-style evidence base.

Risk flags

• investigational
• disease context specific
• route specific claims
• neuropathy endpoint translation
• immune modulation
• medical supervision

Linked papers, labels, and reviews

1. ARA 290, a nonerythropoietic peptide engineered from erythropoietin, improves metabolic control and neuropathic symptoms in type 2 diabetes
   early_human / pmc_ara290_innate_repair_receptor_2014
   Small human diabetes/neuropathy study plus innate repair receptor rationale.
2. Cibinetide improves corneal nerve fiber abundance in patients with sarcoidosis-associated small nerve fiber loss and neuropathic pain
   human_trial / pubmed_cibinetide_sarcoidosis_neuropathy_2017
   Human neuropathy anchor for ARA-290/cibinetide; disease-specific and not a general recovery peptide proof.
3. ARA 290 improves symptoms in patients with sarcoidosis-associated small nerve fiber loss and increases corneal nerve fiber density
   human_rct / pubmed_ara290_sarcoidosis_sfn_2013
   Randomized human sarcoidosis-associated small-fiber neuropathy study; supports symptom and corneal nerve-fiber-density signal in a narrow disease context.
4. A Phase 2 Clinical Trial on the Use of Cibinetide for the Treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema
   human_trial / pubmed_cibinetide_dme_phase2_2020
   Phase 2 human diabetic macular edema trial; adds disease-specific clinical context for cibinetide beyond neuropathy, but not general recovery evidence.
5. Activation of the EPOR-beta common receptor complex by cibinetide ameliorates impaired wound healing in mice with genetic diabetes
   preclinical / pubmed_cibinetide_diabetic_wound_mouse_2017
   Genetic diabetic mouse wound-healing model; mechanistic bridge for EPOR-beta common receptor/innate repair receptor activation and tissue repair.
6. Cibinetide dampens innate immune cell functions thus ameliorating the course of experimental colitis
   preclinical / pubmed_cibinetide_colitis_mouse_2017
   Experimental colitis model supporting anti-inflammatory innate-immune effects of cibinetide; useful for mechanism breadth, not a wellness claim.
7. Improvement of Islet Allograft Function Using Cibinetide, an Innate Repair Receptor Ligand
   preclinical / pubmed_cibinetide_islet_allograft_2020
   Islet allograft preclinical study linking cibinetide to innate repair receptor ligand activity and graft-function support.