Cerebrolysin
Porcine brain-derived peptide preparation · FPF-1070 · Cerebrolysin concentrate · Porcine brain peptide hydrolysate
Porcine brain peptide mixture with the strongest human trial data of any nootropic peptide.
Typical dose
1076 mg
Once daily, 5 days per week
Range
215–2152
mg
Half-life
—
see Dosing
Evidence
Human trials
Intravenous · Intramuscular · Subcutaneous
What it is
Cerebrolysin is not a single peptide. It is a standardised enzymatic hydrolysate of purified porcine brain protein, supplied as a ready-to-use aqueous solution at 215.2 mg/mL — roughly 15% low-molecular-weight peptides and 85% free amino acids. Because it is a mixture, there is no sequence, no molecular weight and no meaningful half-life for it.
It is a genuinely approved prescription drug across Russia, China, and parts of Europe, Asia and Latin America, and it has been through real randomised controlled trials in stroke, vascular dementia, Alzheimer's disease and traumatic brain injury. That puts it in a completely different evidence class to the rest of this category.
The results are mixed rather than triumphant. The CASTA acute stroke trial missed its primary endpoint overall while showing benefit in more severely affected patients; the Cochrane review of vascular dementia concluded the evidence was low quality; Alzheimer's meta-analyses report modest but real cognitive and global-function effects. Nobody has demonstrated a cognitive benefit in healthy people, which is what most buyers are after.
It is dosed in millilitres over a fixed course of days, not taken continuously. This is a treatment protocol borrowed from clinical practice, not a daily supplement.
How it works
The peptide fraction is described as having neurotrophic activity that mimics the endogenous neurotrophic factors — effects overlapping with NGF, BDNF and CNTF have been demonstrated in cell and animal models, including protection against excitotoxic and ischaemic injury, reduced apoptosis, and support of neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity.
Because it is a mixture, no single active component has been isolated and the mechanism is characterised at the level of the whole preparation rather than a molecular target. The free amino acid fraction contributes little pharmacologically and is essentially a carrier.
Dosing
This is dosed in volume, not milligrams: 215.2 mg = 1 mL. The typical self-administered dose is 5 mL (1,076 mg) daily; 5 mL is also the practical IM ceiling. Clinical trials in Alzheimer's and stroke used 10-30 mL by IV infusion.
Preparation
Ready-made solutionCerebrolysin ships as a ready-to-use solution — do not add bacteriostatic water.
Nothing to reconstitute — it ships as a ready-to-use solution at 215.2 mg/mL, so the 5 mL figure is the volume already sitting in a 1,076 mg ampoule. The 10 mL and 30 mL presentations exist but are the same 215.2 mg/mL solution in a larger ampoule — only the 5 mL / 1,076 mg pairing is listed here, because with a fixed concentration the mg figure and the mL volume move together and cannot be mixed and matched. Never add bacteriostatic water. For IV use dilute only in normal saline, Ringer's or 5% dextrose, and never run it in the same line as a balanced amino acid infusion. Discard any opened ampoule that is discoloured or cloudy.
Storage
Sealed ampoule
Sealed ampoules keep below 25 °C, protected from light, until the printed expiry. It ships as a ready-made solution and is never supplied as a powder.
Once opened
Once an ampoule is opened it is single-use — draw and inject immediately, discard the remainder. Diluted infusion bags should be used within a few hours.
Reported benefits
- ▪The only compound in this category with large randomised controlled human trials behind it
- ▪Signal for functional recovery after moderate-to-severe ischaemic stroke
- ▪Modest cognitive and global-function improvement in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease
- ▪Supportive data in traumatic brain injury rehabilitation
- ▪Broad neurotrophic activity in cell and animal models, overlapping NGF and BDNF effects
- ▪Given as a fixed course rather than indefinitely, which limits cumulative exposure
Side effects
- ▪Burning, heat sensation, sweating and dizziness if infused too fast — slow the rate
- ▪Headache and dizziness — dizziness, heat sensation and sweating sit in the label's 'common' (1-10%) band; headache is reported but the label does not give it a comparable frequency
- ▪Injection-site pain and induration with IM dosing, which stings notably
- ▪Nausea, agitation or insomnia, more common at higher volumes
- ▪Increased seizure frequency in people with epilepsy
- ▪Rare hypersensitivity reactions up to anaphylaxis — it is a porcine biological, not a synthetic
- ▪Grey-market ampoules are widely counterfeited; sterility and provenance are real risks with an injectable animal-derived product
Do not use if
- ▪Epilepsy or any history of grand mal seizures — it can raise seizure frequency
- ▪Severe renal impairment
- ▪Known hypersensitivity to the product or to porcine protein
- ▪Concurrent MAOI antidepressants, and never co-infused with amino acid solutions in the same line
- ▪Pregnancy and breastfeeding
Evidence level — Human trials
Controlled human clinical data exists.
Approved as a prescription drug in Russia, China and parts of Europe, Asia and Latin America; not FDA-approved and not legally marketed in the US.
Commonly run with
Semax
Russian ACTH-fragment peptide dosed intranasally for focus, drive and neuroprotection.
300 mcg · Once daily, occasionally split AM and early afternoon
Selank
Russian anxiolytic heptapeptide used for anxiety without benzo sedation or dependence.
300 mcg · 2x daily (Russian trials used 3x daily)
Dihexa
Angiotensin IV analogue promoted for synapse growth; potent in rodents, unproven in humans.
8 mg · Once daily, or every other day given the long residence time
Cerebrolysin FAQ
Does it work in healthy people?+
There is no trial evidence that it does. Every controlled study has been in patients with stroke, dementia or brain injury, where there is damaged tissue to recover. Extrapolating a recovery effect in injured brains to cognitive enhancement in a healthy 30-year-old is a leap the data does not support.
IV or IM?+
The label allows both. IM is capped at 5 mL per injection and stings; 5-10 mL can be given as a slow IV injection undiluted, and only doses above 10 mL have to be diluted in saline and infused over 15-60 minutes. Most people self-administering do 5 mL IM daily specifically to avoid running an IV line. Some use subcutaneous for 1-2 mL doses, which is off-label and not what the trials did.
How real is the counterfeit problem?+
Significant. Cerebrolysin is expensive, ampoule-packaged and widely diverted, and counterfeits of the branded product are documented. You are injecting an animal-derived biological, so a fake or non-sterile ampoule is a materially worse outcome than with a synthetic peptide. Buy from a source that can show provenance.
Why is it dosed in mL rather than mg?+
Because it is a solution of fixed concentration, not a weighed powder. Every ampoule is 215.2 mg/mL, so 1 mL = 215.2 mg, 5 mL = 1,076 mg, 10 mL = 2,152 mg and a 30 mL vial = 6,456 mg. Clinical protocols and every practical discussion use millilitres.
Do I need to run it continuously?+
No — and you should not. It is a course-based drug: 10-30 days on, then months off before repeating. Trial protocols ran 4-week courses five days a week, sometimes repeated after a two-month treatment-free interval. There is no data on continuous use.
References
- 1.Cerebrolysin for vascular dementia — Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2019) PMID 31710397
- 2.Cerebrolysin in patients with acute ischemic stroke in Asia: results of a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial — Stroke (2012) PMID 22282884
- 3.A 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of three dosages of Cerebrolysin in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease — European Journal of Neurology (2006) PMID 16420392
- 4.Cerebrolysin in mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled clinical trials — Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders (2015) PMID 25832905
- 5.Comparing the biological activity and composition of Cerebrolysin with other peptide preparations — Journal of Medicine and Life (2024) PMID 38737662
More nootropic & neuro
Dihexa
Angiotensin IV analogue promoted for synapse growth; potent in rodents, unproven in humans.
8 mg · Once daily, or every other day given the long residence time
Selank
Russian anxiolytic heptapeptide used for anxiety without benzo sedation or dependence.
300 mcg · 2x daily (Russian trials used 3x daily)
Semax
Russian ACTH-fragment peptide dosed intranasally for focus, drive and neuroprotection.
300 mcg · Once daily, occasionally split AM and early afternoon