Cerebrolysin

This is the most studied item in the catalogue by randomised patient numbers, and the pooled result is the interesting part. A Cochrane systematic review, updated in 2023, assessed the randomised evidence in acute ischaemic stroke and found moderate-certainty evidence of no beneficial effect on all-cause death, and moderate-certainty evidence of no beneficial effect on the total number of people experiencing serious adverse events. The same review reported moderate-certainty evidence pointing to an increase in non-fatal serious adverse events. Registered trials extend beyond stroke into dementia of the Alzheimer's type against an active comparator, prolonged disorders of consciousness, and a multi-country stroke registry.

What is not established

A demonstrated benefit, in the indication it is most used for. The pooled randomised evidence in acute ischaemic stroke does not show one, and points the other way on non-fatal serious adverse events. Separately, and unlike every other item here, its composition is not fully established: it is a mixture rather than a defined molecule, so there is no single sequence, no molecular weight and no CAS number that describes what is in the vial, and purity by HPLC does not mean for a mixture what it means for a synthetic peptide. A batch certificate for this material is therefore a different document from the one issued for every other item in the range: it can record identity, batch and handling, and it cannot state a purity figure that means what a synthetic peptide's purity figure means. The published studies also used intravenous and intramuscular administration at volumes a lyophilised vial of this kind does not correspond to.

What distinguishes Cerebrolysin

It is not a peptide. It is a biological extract of porcine brain, a mixture of low-molecular-weight peptides and free amino acids, and every other item in this catalogue is a defined synthetic molecule with a sequence, a formula and a CAS number. That single fact changes the whole procurement question: animal origin brings a supply chain and an acceptability question that a synthesised peptide does not have, and a mixture cannot be specified or verified the way the rest of the range is. It is also the only item here where a Cochrane review of the pooled randomised evidence reports a possible increase in non-fatal serious adverse events, which is a finding no seller of it publishes.

Sources

1. Ziganshina LE et al. Cerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2023, CD007026.pub7
2. Ziganshina LE et al. Cerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2020
3. ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT00868283, safety and efficacy of Cerebrolysin in patients with acute ischemic stroke
4. ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT01822951, Cerebrolysin compared to donepezil in mild to moderate dementia of the Alzheimer's type
5. ClinicalTrials.gov. NCT02541227, Cerebrolysin registry study in stroke

This page describes a compound as a material and summarises published research about it. It is for general and procurement information only. It is not medical advice, not a treatment recommendation, and not guidance on use. Supplied for laboratory and research use, not for human consumption.