Scientific Reference
Cerebrolysin
Evidence profile: Predominantly preclinical
Cerebrolysin is a mixture of short peptides and free amino acids made by controlled enzymatic digestion of pig brain protein. Because it is a mixture, it has no single sequence, formula or molecular weight; its composition is defined by the manufacturing process and by batch standardisation. Laboratory and animal studies have examined it for activity resembling that of neurotrophic factors. It has also been studied in human clinical trials, mainly in acute stroke, traumatic brain injury and dementia, and systematic reviews of those trials have reached differing conclusions. The biologically relevant components of the mixture have not been identified, which limits how far any single mechanism can be attributed to it.
Mechanism of Action
No single molecular target has been assigned to Cerebrolysin, since it contains many peptides and amino acids. Cell and animal studies have described activity resembling that of neurotrophic factors, the proteins that regulate neuronal survival and differentiation, and have examined markers of apoptosis, synaptic density and neurogenesis in rodent models of stroke, brain injury and neurodegeneration. Some papers have proposed involvement of specific signalling routes downstream of neurotrophic receptors. How much of the peptide content crosses the blood–brain barrier, and which components account for which reported observation, have not been established.
Molecular Information
- Type: Proprietary 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