# Thymulin References: The Cited Literature

> Thymulin references — the full cited literature behind this digest, from the 1982 zinc-conformation discovery to the 2020 inhaled gene-therapy result, with DOIs and PubMed links.

Every quantitative claim on this site maps to one of these sources. Peer-reviewed journals, with DOIs and PubMed identifiers.

## About this reference list

This is the full thymulin reference list behind the digest — fifteen peer-reviewed sources spanning four decades, from the 1982 discovery that zinc governs the molecule to the 2020 inhaled gene-therapy result. Each carries a DOI or PubMed link so the original can be read in full. Where the literature is preclinical, the entry is preclinical; where human data exist, they are noted as the limited and dated record they are. Citations are numbered to match the inline markers throughout the site.

## How the sources group together

The list falls into a few natural clusters. The foundational chemistry is Dardenne 1982 [1], the 1994 zinc-interaction synthesis [2], and the 1989 zinc-dependent-hormone characterization [12] — together they establish identity, sequence, and the one-zinc condition. The human zinc-status thread runs through Prasad 1988 [3] and the cervical-carcinoma work [13], the closest the record comes to direct human evidence, both dated and both about endogenous thymulin rather than a peptide given as a drug.

The anti-inflammatory spine — the dealt lens of this site — is Novoselova 2014 [6], Lunin 2008 [9], Haddad 2013 [10], and the diabetes model [8], with the pulmonary results in da Silva 2020 [7] and the Santos 2010 lung-disease review [15]. The neuroendocrine and gene-therapy reviews from the Reggiani and Goya group [4][5] tie the immune molecule to the pituitary and to vector-based delivery. The aging mechanism sits in Mocchegiani 2004 [14], and the pancreatic-protection result in Saitoh 2004 [11]. Read in those groups, the shape of the field is easier to see: deep and specific on mechanism, thin and old on humans.

## References

[1] Dardenne M, Pléau JM, Nabarra B, Lefrancier P, Derrien M, Choay J, Bach JF. Contribution of zinc and other metals to the biological activity of the serum thymic factor. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982;79(17):5370-3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6957870/
[2] Dardenne M, Pleau JM. Interactions between zinc and thymulin. Met Based Drugs. 1994;1(2-3):233-9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18476235/
[3] Prasad AS, Meftah S, Abdallah J, Kaplan J, Brewer GJ, Bach JF, Dardenne M. Serum thymulin in human zinc deficiency. J Clin Invest. 1988;82(4):1202-10. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3262625/
[4] Reggiani PC, Morel GR, Cónsole GM, Barbeito CG, Rodriguez SS, Brown OA, Bellini MJ, Pléau JM, Dardenne M, Goya RG. The thymus-neuroendocrine axis: physiology, molecular biology, and therapeutic potential of the thymic peptide thymulin. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2009;1153:98-106. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19236333/
[5] Reggiani PC, Schwerdt JI, Console GM, Roggero EA, Dardenne M, Goya RG. Physiology and therapeutic potential of the thymic peptide thymulin. Curr Pharm Des. 2014;20(29):4690-6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24588820/
[6] Novoselova EG, Khrenov MO, Glushkova OV, Lunin SM, Parfenyuk SB, Novoselova TV, Fesenko EE. Anti-inflammatory effects of IKK inhibitor XII, thymulin, and fat-soluble antioxidants in LPS-treated mice. Mediators Inflamm. 2014;2014:724838. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25045213/
[7] da Silva AL, de Oliveira GP, Kim N, Cruz FF, Kitoko JZ, Blanco NG, Martini SV, Hanes J, Rocco PRM, Suk JS, Morales MM. Nanoparticle-based thymulin gene therapy therapeutically reverses key pathology of experimental allergic asthma. Sci Adv. 2020;6(24):eaay7973. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32577505/
[8] Novoselova EG, Glushkova OV, Lunin SM, Khrenov MO, Parfenyuk SB, Novoselova TV, Sharapov MG, Gordeeva AE. Thymulin and peroxiredoxin 6 have protective effects against streptozotocin-induced type 1 diabetes in mice. Int J Immunopathol Pharmacol. 2021;35:20587384211005645. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33779346/
[9] Lunin SM, Khrenov MO, Novoselova TV, Parfenyuk SB, Novoselova EG. Thymulin, a thymic peptide, prevents the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines and heat shock protein Hsp70 in inflammation-bearing mice. Immunol Invest. 2008;37(8):858-70. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18991101/
[10] Haddad JJ, Hanbali LH. The anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory activity of thymulin peptide is NF-kappaB-dependent and involves the downregulation of IkappaB-alpha. American Journal of Medical and Biological Research. 2013;1(2):41-52. https://doi.org/10.12691/ajmbr-1-2-2
[11] Saitoh N, Awaya A, Sakudo A, SungWook S, Saeki K, Matsumoto Y, Onodera T. Serum thymic factor prevents LPS-induced pancreatic cell damage in mice via up-regulation of Bcl-2 expression in pancreas. Microbiol Immunol. 2004;48(9):629-38. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15383698/
[12] Bach JF, Dardenne M. Thymulin, a zinc-dependent hormone. Med Oncol Tumor Pharmacother. 1989;6(1):25-9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2657247/
[13] Mocchegiani E, Ciavattini A, Santarelli L, Tibaldi A, Muzzioli M, Bonazzi P, Giacconi R, Fabris N. Role of zinc and alpha2 macroglobulin on thymic endocrine activity and on peripheral immune efficiency (natural killer activity and interleukin 2) in cervical carcinoma. Br J Cancer. 1999;79(2):244-50. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9888464/
[14] Mocchegiani E, Giacconi R, Cipriano C, Muti E, Gasparini N, Malavolta M. Are zinc-bound metallothionein isoforms (I+II and III) involved in impaired thymulin production and thymic involution during ageing? Immun Ageing. 2004;1(1):5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15679929/
[15] Santos M, Henriques-Coelho T, Leite-Moreira A. Immunomodulatory role of thymulin in lung diseases. Expert Opin Ther Targets. 2010;14(2):131-41. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20055713/

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A small-press reader for the zinc-bound thymulin literature — printed from the peer-reviewed record, not a clinic, not a counter, not a prescription.