A company called Ebewe in the Germanic country of Austria has developed and gained approval for their injectable product called Cerebrolysin® (CRB).
What makes CRB interesting is that it is specifically aimed at delaying the progression of AD; this is unusual in-itself because the current approved medications, (donepezil and memantine) are merely targeted at improving the symptoms and some of the disease outcomes.
CRB is also different because it can be considered to be the first natural approach to AD. CRB is peptide based, being very careful obtained by standardised enzymatic processes from purified brain proteins and aminoacids (of porcine origin).
CRB is designed to help support the function of neurons. This type of approach is known as neurotrophic and CRB being a neurotrophic factor appears to help support and maintain a number of neurons including those of serotonin, choline (related to Ach) and noradrenaline origin.
Action
What this means, is that CRB appears to be able to except a growth like factor on neurons, particularly those from the dorsal root ganglia. Plus, CRB appears to affect synaptic responses in the hippocampus, the region of the brain believed responsible for the deposit of memories. In other words, Cerebrolysin® helps to maintain and support these vital repair processes in the brain.
In addition, Cerebrolysin® has been shown to decrease amyloid-beta production in the brain. These are the so-called Alzheimer plagues that are seen in the post mortem examinations of AD autopsies. As these plagues are strongly correlated with the damage of AD, their control or reduction may be viewed as a highly significant benefit.
Furthermore, there is even some evidence that CRB can decrease the rate of apoptosis (the rate of cell death), a factor that could be linked to the slowing of the progression of the disease.
Clinical trials
Now that 80 trials have been completed on more than 5000 patients with AD, CRB can be considered to be well tested.
The studies highlight that those patients suffering from mild to moderate AD, that when treated with I.M. or I.V. infusions of CRB each day for 5 days a week, over a period of 4 weeks, that there was a significant improvement in cognitive measurements, even after just the first 4 initial weeks. What's more, Dr. E. Ruether, one of the doctors involved in the trials, noted that these improvements remained stable for up to 6-months- even after cessation of the therapy.
In more human terms this means that there are improvements in the activities of daily living, with the patients being able to do more by themselves, with far less assistance etc. Furthermore, when compared to the placebo patients in the trials, the CRB treated patients retained their improved cognitive measurements, even at month 7, whereas the placebo patients had clearly deteriorated during this same period.
Safety
To date, no known toxicity or safety concerns have been reported. Side effects during treatment have been rare and generally limited to dizziness, headache and heat sensations, although it is possible that these effects are related to the injection or I.V. being given "too quickly."
Potential contraindications appear to be limited to individual hypersensitivity, severe renal conditions and epilepsy.
Dosage
The normal dose pattern appears to be a 5 ml ampoule injected, (intramuscularly or intravenously) each day for 5-days (e.g. Monday-Friday) and repeated for a period of 4-weeks. Then after a 2-month period free from treatment the program is cycled again as necessary. Therefore, four packages each containing 5x 5ml ampoules are normally enough for 3-months at a time.
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Originally Posted by Deckard
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