Cerebrolysin

A prescription drug made by digesting purified pig brain protein into short peptides and amino acids. Each mL holds 215.2 mg of the concentrate. Its Austrian label covers dementia, deficits after stroke and traumatic brain injury in adults.

By the Austrian label: 10 to 30 mL a day for dementia (4 week courses, 5 days a week), 20 to 50 mL a day for ischemic stroke (10 to 21 days), 30 to 50 mL for hemorrhagic stroke (10 to 21 days) and 20 to 50 mL for brain injury (7 to 30 days).

The drug is dosed in mL at 215.2 mg per mL, so 5 mL is 1,076 mg, 10 mL is 2,152 mg, 30 mL is 6,456 mg and 50 mL is 10,760 mg. Research powders sold by mg (20 to 32 mg a day in one guide) are a different product and far smaller.

Both. The label allows up to 5 mL into a muscle and up to 10 mL into a vein; above 10 mL it is diluted into an infusion given slowly over about 15 to 60 minutes.

Subcutaneous is not a labelled route. One guide publishes a 20 to 32 mg daily subQ ramp, but it uses a 60 mg research powder, not the 215.2 mg/mL drug, and the amounts are about 100 to 300 times below clinical courses.

The most reported community course is 5 mL IM once a day for 20 days, then 1 to 2 months off, 2 to 3 times a year. Some go to 10 mL split between two sites. There are no trials in healthy people.

The label lists rare agitation, insomnia, loss of appetite, itching, and dizziness or heat when it goes in too fast. Very rare: allergic reactions, seizures, palpitations, stomach upset and injection-site reactions. A Cochrane stroke review found more non-fatal serious adverse events than placebo.

It is not FDA approved. It does not appear on FDA's compounding lists or on FDA import alerts 66-40 and 66-41, and none of the 43 trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov lists a US site. Abroad, as in Austria, it is a prescription drug.

Not clearly. The 1,070-patient CASTA trial missed its main goal, with a trend in severe strokes, and a 2023 Cochrane review found no effect on death. The smaller CARS trial reported better arm recovery alongside rehab and called itself exploratory.

Possibly. A 2019 Cochrane review of vascular dementia found cognitive and global gains on very low-quality evidence that may be too small to matter. The CAPTAIN brain injury trials (185 patients) found a small-to-medium benefit at 30 and 90 days.

At room temperature, not above 25 C, in its carton. Never refrigerate or freeze it. Many peptide guides say refrigerate; the label says not to.

It cannot be measured directly, because the peptides resemble the body's own. The label says neurotrophic activity can be detected in blood plasma for up to 24 hours after a single dose.

7 to 30 days for brain injury, 10 to 21 days for stroke and 4 weeks for dementia, with dementia courses repeatable after 2 months. Community nootropic courses run about 20 days.

No. The pharmaceutical is a ready-to-use solution. Only research powders sold by mg are mixed, typically 60 mg with 3 mL of bacteriostatic water.

With care. The label warns of additive effects with antidepressants and MAO inhibitors and suggests a lower antidepressant dose; 30 to 40 mL with high-dose MAO inhibitors can raise blood pressure.

Yes. It is a proteolytic peptide fraction from pig brain protein, which is why allergy to the product is a contraindication and rare anaphylaxis has been reported.