cerebrolysin

Cerebrolysin is a peptidergic drug produced from purified porcine brain proteins, with postulated neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects (Windisch et al., 1998; Rockenstein et al., 2003; Plosker and Gauthier, 2009; Gauthier et al., 2015). A small open-label trial in patients with AD and VaD (Rainer et al., 1997) showed minimal improvement in cognitive tests and clinical global impression. The main side effects were nausea and vertigo. A Cochrane review (Chen et al., 2013) of six RCTs with a total of 597 participants showed minimal MMSE and ADAS-cog improvements.

Contraindications are hypersensitivity to the protein lysate or the excipients; epilepsy, especially grand mal convulsions (Cerebrolysin treatment may increase the frequency of seizures); severe or acute kidney failure; there is no available information on the safety of Cerebrolysin during pregnancy and lactation in humans, though animal studies found no toxic effects; some studies have shown that Cerebrolysin can be safely used in patients with acute hemorrhagic stroke.

The side effects of Cerebrolysin are infrequent and usually mild and transient: agitation (aggressiveness, insomnia, rarely hallucinations), confusion, tremors, allergic reactions–very rare, in our expertise (fever, skin reactions, pruritus, local vascular reactions, headache, neck pain, limb pain, lower backache, dyspnea, chills, shock-like state), vertigo, headache, hypertension or hypotension, hyperventilation, hypertonia or hypotonia, fatigue, depression, apathy, flu-like symptoms, gastro–intestinal troubles (loss of appetite, dyspepsia, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, vomiting), rapid injection may cause heat sensation, sweatiness, dizziness, rarely palpitations or cardiac arrhythmias, injection site reactions (irritation, pruritus, burning sensation)[1].

[1] G Onose. “Neuroprotective and consequent neurorehabilitative clinical outcomes, in patients treated with the pleiotropic drug cerebrolysin.” Journal of Medicine and Life 2 4 (2009): 350–60.