Cognition & Neuroprotection

The "Cognition and neuroprotection" series is a specific selection - not stimulants from the amphetamine family, but endogenous regulators of BDNF, NGF, and synaptic plasticity. This reflects the fundamental split in cognitive pharmacology: short-term catecholamine elevation versus long-term neurotrophin restoration. The catalog here covers the latter.

Semax is a synthetic ACTH(4-10) analog developed at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences - intranasal administration raises BDNF in the hippocampus by 2-3x within 24 hours in ischemic models (Dolotov et al., FEBS Lett 2006). Selank (Tuftsin-Pro-Gly-Pro) is its complementary heptapeptide, modeled on the immunomodulator Tuftsin - clinical work at the Institute of Physiology (Moscow) describes anxiolytic effect via GABAА modulation without sedation and without benzodiazepine dose-dependence (Kost et al., Neurosci Behav Physiol 2001).

Cerebrolysin is a natural porcine mixture of low-molecular neuropeptides and amino acids - the only compound in the category with regulatory approval for chronic ischemia and vascular dementia in 44 countries (including Austria, Canada, Russia). Dihexa (N-hexanoic-Tyr-Ile-(6) aminohexanoic amide) is an oligopeptide angiotensin IV analog - it binds the HGF/c-Met signaling path and, in vitro, drives dendritic spine formation at a potency reported as 7x BDNF (McCoy et al., J Pharmacol Exp Ther 2013). The choice between molecules depends on the question: acute neuronal loss - Cerebrolysin/Dihexa; chronic stress-response regulation - Semax/Selank.

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