Scientific Reference
Cerebrolysin
Evidence profile: Preclinical, with limited uncontrolled human reports
Cerebrolysin does not fit the usual single-molecule template. It is produced by enzymatically digesting porcine (pig) brain protein, yielding a mixture of short peptides and free amino acids, so it has no one sequence, formula or molecular weight; the product is defined by the process and by batch standardisation. Lab and animal studies have looked for neurotrophic-factor-like behaviour. Human trials have concentrated on acute stroke, traumatic brain injury and dementia, and systematic reviews of them disagree. Nobody has isolated which constituents carry the biological activity, which restricts any attribution of an effect to a single mechanism.
Mechanism of Action
With so many components, no one molecular target can be named. Cell and animal experiments report activity resembling neurotrophic factors, proteins that govern neuron survival and differentiation, and have measured apoptosis markers, synaptic density and neurogenesis in rodent models of stroke, injury and neurodegeneration. A few papers suggest particular signalling pathways downstream of neurotrophic receptors. How much of the peptide fraction passes the blood-brain barrier, and which component explains which observation, remain open.
Molecular Information
- Type: Proprietary peptide mixture
Published Research
Cerebrolysin after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury: prospective meta-analysis of the CAPTAIN trial series
Vester JC et al. · Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2021 · Review
PMID 33620612 — View on PubMedCerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke
Ziganshina LE et al. · The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2020 · Review
PMID 32662068 — View on PubMedCerebrolysin for vascular dementia
Cui S et al. · The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2019 · Review
PMID 31710397 — View on PubMedCerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke
Ziganshina LE et al. · The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2017 · Review
PMID 28430363 — View on PubMedCerebrolysin for functional recovery in patients with acute ischemic stroke: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials
Wang Z et al. · Drug design, development and therapy · 2017 · Review
PMID 28458521 — View on PubMedCerebrolysin in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials
Gauthier S et al. · Dementia and geriatric cognitive disorders · 2015 · Review
PMID 25832905 — View on PubMed