VINPOCETINE
The Chiropractic Resource Organization
Vinpocetine
Memory and Nutrition
This section is compiled by Frank M. Painter, D.C. Send all comments or additions to:
Frankp@chiro.org
If there are terms in these articles you don't understand, you can get a definition from the Merriam Webster Medical Dictionary. If you want information about a specific disease, you can access the Merck Manual. You can also search Pub Med for more abstracts on this topic.
Mental Note: Supplements Supply Brain Boost
Vinpocetine is processed from common periwinkle leaves and African voa canga seeds. More than 20 years ago, a Hungarian physician developed it as Cavinton, an Alzheimer's and memory-impairment drug. "There's significant evidence that it aids memory and mental function, particularly with Alzheimer's and related conditions," Bratman says.
Sustain the Brain
High on the aging populations' list of fears is losing one's mental faculties. With Alzheimer's disease and other forms of senile dementia affecting some 25 percent of all people older than 80, it certainly isn't an irrational fear. Hope lies in research that is revealing nutrition's role in both treating and preventing cognitive impairment.
Smart Drugs & Nutrients: Vinpocetine
Vinpocetine is a powerful memory enchancer. It facilitates cerebral metabolism by improving cerebral microcirculation (blood flow), stepping up brain cell ATP production (ATP is the cellular energy molecule), and increasing utilisation of glucose and oxygen. What all this means is that vinpocetine shares many of the effects of several other cognitive enchancers. In the above graph from a piece of drug company literature, vinpocetine is shown to compare favourably to: placebo, vincamine, papaverine, DHT (Hydergine), xanthinol nicotinate, meclophenoxate, cinnarizine, niacin, cyclandelate, difenidol, and ifenprodil.
Focus on Vinpocetine
Chemical Pharmaceutical Research Institute, Sofia, Bulgaria
Ethyl apovincaminate (Vinpocetine) is a vincamine derivative has been used in the clinical practice for over 25 years for the treatment of cerebrovascular disorders and related symptoms. The effects of vinpocetine on cerebral blood flow, brain metabolism, memory functions, and its neuroprotective action have been confirmed in the past years in numerous animal experiments and human studies. The aim of the present paper is to review the preclinical and clinical studies on vinpocetine.
Vinpocetine — A Stroke of Good Luck
Vinpocetine—a synthetic derivative of a compound found in the periwinkle plant (Vinca minor)— has been shown to enhance blood circulation in the brain, dilate blood vessels, and exert antioxidant properties. 1 In the United States, vinpocetine has traditionally been used to promote blood flow; in Europe it's been used for more than two decades to treat stroke patients. 2 Intravenous dosing with vinpocetine increases glucose (blood sugar) to the brain in both the unaffected and stroke-affected regions, enhancing rehabilitation for stroke patients. Blood flow, however, appears to increase only in the unaffected region. 3
Vinpocetine ~ Listed at PDR Health
Vinpocetine is a semi-synthetic derivative of vincamine. Vincamine is an alkaloid derived from the plant Vinca minor L., a member of the periwinkle family. Vinpocetine, as well as vincamine, are used in Europe, Japan and Mexico as pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of cerebrovascular and cognitive disorders. In the United States, vinpocetine is marketed as a dietary supplement. It is sometimes called a nootropic, meaning cognition enhancer, from the Greek noos for mind.
Vinpocetine has been known to interact with antiplatelet drugs and warfarin by increasing bleeding risk and with blood-pressure-lowering agents by enhancing their effects. It is also known to interact with herbal and dietary supplements that have antiplatelet/anticoagulant activity, such as angelica, anise, capsicum, chamomile, garlic, ginkgo, ginseng, Panax, and licorice. FROM: Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database. 3rd ed. Stockton, California
A Review of Nutrients and Botanicals in the Integrative Management of Cognitive Dysfunction
Alternative Medicine Review 1999 (Jun); 4 (3): 144–161 ~ FULL TEXT
Dementias and other severe cognitive dysfunction states pose a daunting challenge to existing medical management strategies. An integrative, early intervention approach seems warranted. Whereas, allopathic treatment options are highly limited, nutritional and botanical therapies are available which have proven degrees of efficacy and generally favorable benefit-to-risk profiles. Vinpocetine, found in the lesser periwinkle Vinca minor, is an excellent vasodilator and cerebral metabolic enhancer with proven benefits for vascular-based cognitive dysfunction.
Vinpocetine Monograph
Alternative Medicine Review 2002 (Jun); 7 (3): 240–243 ~ FULL TEXT
Chronic Cerebral Vascular Ischemia Two PET studies in chronic stroke patients have shown that vinpocetine has a significant effect in increasing glucose uptake and metabolism in the healthy cortical and subcortical regions of the brain, particularly in the area surrounding the region of the stroke. (21) A study in 15 chronic ischemic stroke patients found that a two-week vinpocetine trial significantly increased cerebral blood flow in the non-symptomatic hemisphere. (10)
Recent studies using Doppler sonography and near infrared spectroscopy have shown increased perfusion of the middle cerebral artery in patients with chronic cerebrovascular disease given a single infusion of vinpocetine. (10)
“Brain-specific” Nutrients: A Memory Cure?
Nutrition 2003 (Nov-Dec); 19 (11-12): 957–975
Vinpocetine increases blood circulation and metabolism in the brain. Animal studies have shown that vinpocetine can reduce the loss of neurons due to decreased blood flow. In three studies of older adults with memory problems associated with poor brain circulation or dementia-related disease, vinpocetine produced significantly more improvement than a placebo in performance on global cognitive tests reflecting attention, concentration, and memory. Effects on episodic memory per se have been tested minimally, if at all.
Synaptosomal Response to Oxidative Stress: Effect of Vinpocetine
Free Radic Res 2000 (Jan); 32 (1): 57–66
It has been suggested that reactive oxygen species (ROS) play a role in the neuronal damage occurring in ischemic injury and neurodegenerative disorders and that their neutralization by antioxidant drugs may delay or minimize neurodegeneration. We conclude that the antioxidant effect of vinpocetine might contribute to the protective role exerted by the drug in reducing neuronal damage in pathological situations.
Human Positron Emission Tomography with Oral 11C-Vinpocetine
Orv Hetil 2003 (Nov 16); 144 (46): 2271–2276
Vinpocetine, administered orally to human volunteers, readily entered the bloodstream from the stomach and the gastrointestinal tract and thereafter passed the blood-brain barrier and entered the brain. Radioactivity from [11C]vinpocetine was also demonstrated in the kidneys and in urine.
Efficacy and Tolerance of Vinpocetine in Ambulant Patients Suffering from Mild to Moderate Organic Psychosyndromes
Int Clin Psychopharmacol 1991 (Spring); 6 (1): 31–43
The efficacy and tolerance of orally administered vinpocetine was investigated in patients suffering from mild to moderate organic psychosyndromes including primary dementia. This study demonstrates the usefulness and efficacy of vinpocetine in the management of patients with moderate organic psychosyndromes.
Mechanism of Action of Vinpocetine
Acta Pharm Hung 1996 (Sep); 66 (5): 213–224
Early experiments with vinpocetine indicated five main pharmacological and biochemical actions: (1) selective enhancement of the brain circulation and oxygen utilization without significant alteration in parameters of systemic circulation, (2) increased tolerance of the brain toward hypoxia and ischemia, (3) anticonvulsant activity, (4) inhibitory effect on phosphodiesterase (PDE) enzyme and (5) improvement of rheological properties of the blood and inhibition of aggregation of thrombocytes. Later studies in various laboratories confirmed the above effects and clearly demonstrated that vinpocetine offers significant and direct neuroprotection both under in vitro and in vivo conditions.
Other Memory Enhancers
Bacopa Monniera
Bacopa monniera Monograph
Alternative Medicine Review 2004 (Mar); 9 (1): 79–85 ~ FULL TEXT
Bacopa monniera, also referred to as Bacopa monnieri, Herpestis monniera, water hyssop, and
“Brahmi,” has been used in the Ayurvedic system of medicine for centuries. Traditionally, it was used as a
brain tonic to enhance memory development, learning, and concentration,1 and to provide relief to patients
with anxiety or epileptic disorders.2 The plant has also been used in India and Pakistan as a cardiac tonic,
digestive aid, and to improve respiratory function in cases of bronchoconstriction.3 Recent research has
focused primarily on Bacopa’s cognitive-enhancing effects, specifically memory, learning, and concentration,
and results support the traditional Ayurvedic claims. Research on anxiety, epilepsy, bronchitis and
asthma, irritable bowel syndrome, and gastric ulcers also supports the Ayurvedic uses of Bacopa. Bacopa’s
antioxidant properties may offer protection from free radical damage in cardiovascular disease and certain
types of cancer.
Effects of a Combined Extract of Ginkgo biloba and Bacopa monniera on Cognitive Function in Healthy Humans
Hum Psychopharmacol 2004 (Mar); 19 (2): 91–96
The results showed that the combined extract relative to placebo did not demonstrate any significant effects on tests investigating a range of cognitive processes including attention, short-term and working memory, verbal learning, memory consolidation, executive processes, planning and problem solving, information processing speed, motor responsiveness and decision making. These findings suggest that at least within the current treatment duration and doses, an extract containing Ginkgo biloba and Bacopa monniera (a product called "Blackmores Ginkgo Brahmi") had no cognitive enhancing effects in healthy subjects.
The Ginkgo Biloba Page
Research performed during the past fifteen years suggests that ginkgo may be of value in the treatment of age-related physical and mental deterioration, dementia, peripheral vascular disease, and organic impotence. Ginkgo may also reduce the severity of depression in individuals with cerebral dysfunction. Preliminary or uncontrolled studies suggest that ginkgo may benefit some patients suffering from tinnitus, vertigo, acute cochlear deafness, macular degeneration, cyclic edema, and asthma.
Thanks to
Pub Med
for their quality MEDLINE search tool.
Vinpocetine has been known to interact with antiplatelet drugs and warfarin by increasing bleeding risk and with blood-pressure-lowering agents by enhancing their effects. It is also known to interact with herbal and dietary supplements that have antiplatelet/anticoagulant activity, such as angelica, anise, capsicum, chamomile, garlic, ginkgo, ginseng, Panax, and licorice.