Neurotrophic Research
Investigational
Cerebrolysin
Also known as: FPF-1070, brain-derived peptide mixture, porcine brain peptides
Complex mixture of low molecular weight neuropeptides derived from porcine brain tissue. Studied in neurotrophic-factor research.
Research overview
Cerebrolysin (also coded FPF-1070) is not a single peptide. It is a mixture of small peptides and free amino acids extracted from pig brain tissue. It is widely used in the treatment of stroke in Russia, Eastern Europe, China and other parts of Asia, but it is not a licensed medicine in the UK.
In cell and animal models of stroke, the mixture has shown activity similar to the body's own nerve growth factors. The human evidence is mixed. The largest trial, CASTA, gave Cerebrolysin or placebo to 1,070 people with acute ischaemic stroke and found no difference on its main measure of recovery at 90 days (Heiss et al., Stroke 2012). A Cochrane review of seven randomised trials of Cerebrolysin and a similar peptide mixture (1,773 people) concluded that it probably makes little or no difference to deaths after acute ischaemic stroke, and found a possible increase in non-fatal serious adverse events (Ziganshina et al., 2023). Many of the trials had unclear or high risk of bias, and the manufacturer supported three of them. Supplied for laboratory research use only.
Mechanism of action
Because Cerebrolysin is a mixture, it has no single target. In cell and animal models of stroke, the mixture has shown activity similar to the body's own nerve growth factors (neurotrophic activity). Which components are responsible, and whether these laboratory effects carry over to people, has not been established.