Noopept

✓Key benefits

📈What to expect

Based on community reports and published research. Individual results vary significantly.

💊Dosing protocols

Dosing information is sourced from published research and community protocols. This is not a recommendation. Consult a healthcare professional.

Overview

Noopept was synthesised by Russian researcher T.A. Gudasheva at the Zakusov Institute of Pharmacology in the 1990s. Structurally, it is an ethyl ester of a cycloprolylglycine dipeptide with a phenylacetyl group. It is often compared to piracetam, but works through different mechanisms and at much lower doses (10-30 mg vs 2400-4800 mg). In Russia, it is sold as a prescription nootropic for cognitive decline and has been studied in patients with mild cognitive impairment. It is one of the most widely used nootropics worldwide, available as a supplement in many countries.

⚙️How it works

Noopept is rapidly hydrolysed to cycloprolylglycine after absorption. It modulates both AMPA and NMDA glutamate receptors, enhancing long-term potentiation (LTP), the cellular mechanism of memory formation. It also increases BDNF and NGF expression in the hippocampus and cortex. Through its effects on the cholinergic system, it sensitises acetylcholine receptors rather than increasing acetylcholine levels directly. It also has mild anxiolytic activity.

⚡Side effects

📅Research history

Noopept vs piracetam

Despite being grouped together, noopept and piracetam work differently. Piracetam modulates AMPA receptors and requires grams per day. Noopept primarily modulates AMPA and NMDA receptors through its metabolite cycloprolylglycine and works at milligram doses. Noopept also increases BDNF and NGF, which piracetam does not do to a significant degree. The '1000x more potent' claim refers to the dose ratio, not necessarily to stronger subjective effects.

References

1. [1]Gudasheva TA, et al. 'The major metabolite of dipeptide piracetam analogue GVS-111 in rat brain.' Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, 1997.
2. [2]Ostrovskaya RU, et al. 'Noopept stimulates the expression of NGF and BDNF in rat hippocampus.' Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, 2008.

Frequently asked questions

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