CORTEXIN

Cortexin was developed at the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg in 1986 and has been extensively studied in Russian-language literature for cognitive recovery, epilepsy-associated cognitive disorders, and ischemic brain injury. Animal models demonstrate neuroprotective effects in both acute and chronic brain ischemia, reducing necrosis size and improving antioxidant system function. A 2021 PLoS One study showed it crosses the BBB in mice and binds multiple glutamatergic and GABAergic receptors in vitro. Clinical evidence is largely limited to Russian/CIS populations with few large-scale randomized controlled trials published in Western journals. Most studies are preclinical or small open-label trials, and independent replication outside Russia remains limited.