Nefiracetam

Nefiracetam

Systematic (IUPAC) name
N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)acetamide
Clinical data
Legal status	Unscheduled (US)
Routes of administration	Oral
Pharmacokinetic data
Biological half-life	3-5 hours
Identifiers
CAS Number	77191-36-7 N
ATC code	none
PubChem	CID: 71157
ChemSpider	64299 Y
UNII	1JK12GX30N Y
ChEMBL	CHEMBL260829 Y
Chemical data
Formula	C14H18N2O2
Molecular mass	246.305 g/mol
SMILES O=C2N(CC(=O)Nc1c(cccc1C)C)CCC2
InChI InChI=1S/C14H18N2O2/c1-10-5-3-6-11(2)14(10)15-12(17)9-16-8-4-7-13(16)18/h3,5-6H,4,7-9H2,1-2H3,(H,15,17) Y Key:NGHTXZCKLWZPGK-UHFFFAOYSA-N Y
NY (what is this?)  (verify)

Nefiracetam is a nootropic antidementia drug of the racetam family.

Nefiracetam's cytoprotective actions are mediated by enhancement of GABAergic, cholinergic, and monoaminergic neuronal systems. It has been shown to effectively treat apathy and improve motivation in post-stroke patients. It has been shown to exhibit antiamnesia effects for the Alzheimer's type and cerebrovascular type of dementia. In addition, it has also been shown to have antiamnesia effects against a wide variety of memory impairing substances, including: ethanol, chlorodiazepoxide (Librium), scopolamine, bicuculline, picrotoxin, and cycloheximide.

Concerns

Studies of long term consumption of nefiracetam in humans and primates have shown it to have no toxicity. However, animals which metabolize nefiracetam differently from humans and primates are at risk for renal and testicular toxicity. Dogs especially are particularly sensitive, which has been shown to be caused by a specific metabolite, M-18. Higher doses than those in dogs were needed to cause testicular toxicity in rats, although no toxicity was seen in monkeys. Additionally, there has been no evidence of toxicity during clinical trials.

See also

• Racetams