A small synthetic peptide modeled on a temple viper venom toxin, sold by DSM in creams to relax the muscles behind expression lines.
Also called Dipeptide diaminobutyroyl benzylamide diacetate, Syn-Ake, SYN-AKE peptide, Snake peptide, Snake venom peptide, Serpent peptide, beta-Ala-Pro-Dab-NHBn
When SYN-AKE's status or evidence changes, it's in the next morning's email.
SYN-AKE is a small lab-made peptide, beta-alanine, proline and diaminobutyric acid ending in a benzylamide, sold as a diacetate salt. It contains no venom. Its maker, DSM (now dsm-firmenich), says it mimics waglerin-1, a peptide from the venom of the temple viper that blocks the receptor on muscle cells that receives the nerve's acetylcholine signal. Independent lab work confirms waglerin-1 blocks the adult form of that muscle receptor in mice. Argireline acts one step earlier, on the nerve's release of the signal.
The efficacy numbers come from DSM. Its brochure reports that 15 volunteers per group aged 40 to 60 put a 4% SYN-AKE cream or a placebo cream on the forehead twice daily for 28 days, with up to 52% wrinkle reduction and measurable smoothing in 80% of volunteers. A chart in the same brochure shows smaller changes, drops of 15% to 21% from day 0 on three skin-roughness measures. This was never published as a peer-reviewed paper.
The only peer-reviewed human studies used it alongside acetyl hexapeptide-8 and other actives in L'Oreal serums, so its own effect cannot be separated out. Two Turkish lab studies found it was not toxic to skin cells and bound aging-related enzymes in computer models. Whether enough crosses the skin to reach facial muscle has not been measured. It is a cosmetic ingredient, not a drug.
What it binds to, and what happens inside the body after that, step by step.
When a nerve fires, acetylcholine crosses a small gap and opens nicotinic receptors on the muscle cell, letting sodium in so the muscle contracts. Waglerin-1 from temple viper venom blocks the adult form of that receptor. DSM says SYN-AKE copies waglerin-1's action, reversibly blocking the muscle receptor so the channel stays closed and the muscle stays relaxed. In DSM's lab test, 0.5 mM SYN-AKE cut the contraction rate of nerve-connected muscle cells by up to 82%; no independent group has confirmed receptor binding.
Human results and animal results are kept apart below. A result in rats tells you a mechanism is plausible. It does not tell you what happens in a person.
The only human test of SYN-AKE alone is DSM's own 28-day forehead study with 15 volunteers per group, which compared it with placebo but was never peer-reviewed. Peer-reviewed human data come from L'Oreal serums that also contained acetyl hexapeptide-8 and other actives, with results compared to baseline. Its muscle-receptor action rests on supplier cell tests and on independent work with the venom peptide it is modeled on.
15 volunteers per group aged 40 to 60, 4% cream or placebo on the forehead twice daily
DSM reports up to 52% wrinkle reduction after 28 days, smoothing in 80% and wrinkle reduction in 73% of volunteers; a chart shows drops of 15% to 21% from day 0 on three roughness measures. Supplier data, not peer-reviewed.
Read the study50 adults (static wrinkles) and 42 adults (dynamic wrinkles), 12 weeks; L'Oreal researchers
Static wrinkle scores improved 35% to 69% and dynamic wrinkle scores 10% to 13% from baseline with a serum that also contained Argireline, gluconolactone, niacinamide and seaweed extract.
Read the studyPatient cases from 5 dermatologists and 2 surgeons using a serum with 2% acetyl hexapeptide-8 and 2% dipeptide diaminobutyroyl alongside Botox
Clinicians described better radiance and fewer fine lines with the serum plus Botox; there was no control group.
Read the studyWild-type and knockout mice, nerve-muscle preparations
Waglerin-1, the venom peptide SYN-AKE is modeled on, blocked adult muscle acetylcholine receptors with a half-maximal dose of 50 nM; this tested the venom peptide, not SYN-AKE.
Read the studyComputer docking models, cell toxicity and Ames mutation tests
SYN-AKE bound collagen-degrading enzymes and SIRT1 in computer models, scavenged free radicals and was not toxic or mutagenic at the doses tested.
Read the studySkin cell cultures and lab assays
A SYN-AKE nanoemulsion was not toxic to cells, helped scratch wounds close and protected cells against UV and peroxide damage in the dish.
Read the studyWhen a new SYN-AKE study in people is published, the daily email covers it.
These are questions the published research has not answered.
No product containing SYN-AKE is approved as a medicine by the FDA.
Sold in topical cosmetics, which FDA does not review for efficacy before sale. It is not an approved drug anywhere and has no drug development program. DSM describes it as a preservative-free glycerin and water solution and says it won the Swiss Technology Award in 2006. No Cosmetic Ingredient Review safety assessment specific to this ingredient was found. Not named on the WADA list.
When the FDA or WADA changes SYN-AKE's status, it's in the next morning's email.
No human half-life has been published for SYN-AKE, so we do not draw a clearance curve. Half-lives quoted online for it are usually estimates from animal data.
This table records the doses that trials and approved labels used, with the source for each row. It is a record of research, not a recommendation, and it is open to free members.
Which symptoms are expected and which mean stop and get help: side effects and red flags.
Tap a claim to see what the studies found.
It is a fully synthetic small peptide. It is modeled on the action of a viper venom peptide but contains no venom.
That is the maximum reduction in DSM's own 28-day test with 15 people per group; a chart in the same brochure shows drops of 15% to 21% from day 0 on three roughness measures, and the test was never peer-reviewed.
Botox stops the nerve releasing acetylcholine for months. SYN-AKE is said to block the muscle receptor reversibly, and no study shows it reaches facial muscle from a cream.
No published head-to-head trial exists.
These pairings come up often. Almost none have been tested together in a trial, and the evidence note on each says so plainly.
Pairs a peptide said to block the muscle receptor with one that acts on the nerve's signal release.
EvidenceL'Oreal's 2026 serum studies (50 and 42 people) contained both plus other actives and reported change from baseline, so neither peptide's share is known.
Sold as a pre-dissolved, preservative-free glycerin and water solution; no drug-grade storage guidance exists.
Follow the cosmetic product's packaging and expiry date; no independent stability data are published.
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