Does Cerebrolysin help with survival after acute ischaemic stroke? Grade A evidence

What the studies show

Moderate-certainty evidence of no effect on death. None of the trials reported the outcome that matters most — death or dependence — at all.

“All-cause death: Cerebrolysin or Cortexin probably result in little to no difference in all-cause death (risk ratio (RR) 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.65 to 1.41; 6 trials, 1689 participants; moderate-certainty evidence).”

Verbatim, from the abstractZiganshina LE, Abakumova T, Nurkhametova D, Ivanchenko K. Cerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke. Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2023;10:CD007026

Several well-run randomised trials in people, pointing the same way. You can plan around this. It still says nothing about whether the effect is worth the side effects for you.

1
Ziganshina LE, Abakumova T, Nurkhametova D, Ivanchenko K. Cerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke.Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2023;10:CD007026Seven RCTs, 1,773 participants.

In context

Cerebrolysin is a mixture of short peptides and amino acids extracted from pig brain, made in Austria and given as a course of daily intravenous infusions for stroke, dementia and brain injury in Russia, China, Eastern Europe and Asia. It is not approved in the United States, the United Kingdom or EU-wide. The Cochrane review of seven stroke trials found no effect on death and a doubling of non-fatal serious adverse events; the Cochrane review of six vascular-dementia trials found a small cognitive benefit on very low-quality evidence that may be too small to matter.

Cerebrolysin is approved in austria, russia, china and others; not us/uk/eu-wide. Legal status differs by country — see the regulation section or the jurisdiction pages.

Questions

Is Cerebrolysin proven to help with survival after acute ischaemic stroke?

Yes, as far as human trials can show it: Cochrane review: 6 RCTs, 1,689 participants. LYO grades this outcome A.

What studies are behind the grade?

Moderate-certainty evidence of no effect on death. None of the trials reported the outcome that matters most — death or dependence — at all.

Is Cerebrolysin approved for this?

Cerebrolysin is an approved medicine (Approved in Austria, Russia, China and others; not US/UK/EU-wide); whether this particular outcome is a licensed indication is stated on the compound page's regulation section.

Other outcomes for Cerebrolysin

CCognition in vascular dementiaCochrane review: 6 RCTs, 597 participants
CAlzheimer's diseaseSeveral small RCTs
CTraumatic brain injury recoverySmall RCTs and cohort studies
ASerious adverse events (stroke)adverseCochrane review: 3 RCTs, 1,335 participants

Written and maintained by LYO Research — how pages are written and checked. Reviewed 10 September 2026. Grades count human evidence only; see how LYO grades. Not medical advice. Correct this page →