Aniracetam (powder) – 50g

Aniracetam is a racetam-class compound, developed as Ro 13-5057, that was studied mainly for cognitive impairment in older adults.

• Mild to moderate cognitive impairment in Alzheimer-type dementia (older trials)
• AMPA-type glutamate receptor modulation
• Cognition in healthy mice (no effect found)

It positively modulates AMPA-type glutamate receptors and may act on metabotropic glutamate receptors and cholinergic transmission. In receptor recordings it strengthened AMPA responses without changing NMDA, kainate or GABA responses.

1. Human · randomized trial

   Alzheimer-type dementia trial (Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 1991)

   109 older adults with mild to moderate cognitive impairment, 6 months, double-blind against placebo across several centres. The aniracetam group differed significantly from placebo by the end of the study, while the placebo group steadily declined. Tolerability was reported as excellent.[1]

2. Review

   Clinical review (Drugs Aging 1994)

   Concluded that trials suggested benefit in mild to moderate Alzheimer-type dementia but that further trials were needed to confirm it, and that aniracetam did not appear to raise liver enzymes.[2]

3. Cells / in vitro

   Mechanism (J Physiol 1990)

   In frog oocytes expressing rat brain receptors and in rat hippocampal slices, aniracetam selectively and reversibly strengthened AMPA/quisqualate receptor responses.[3]

4. Animal study

   Healthy mice (PLoS One 2014)

   In healthy adult mice, daily oral aniracetam made no difference from placebo on any test of learning, memory, anxiety, movement or repetitive behaviour.[4]

5. Product testing

   U.S. supplement testing (Neurol Clin Pract 2021)

   Describes aniracetam as not approved for human use in the United States, and found it in cognitive supplements alongside other unapproved drugs; 9 of 12 declared drug quantities on labels were inaccurate.[5]

• The human trials are small and decades old; no modern large randomized trial was identified.
• Benefit was reported in impaired older adults; a healthy-animal study found no effect.
• Products on this site are sold for laboratory research only. They are not the medicines used in the trials above, and those results do not apply to research material.

1. 1.Aniracetam (Ro 13-5057) in the treatment of senile dementia of Alzheimer type (SDAT): results of a placebo controlled multicentre clinical studySenin U et al. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 1991 Human · randomized trial
2. 2.Aniracetam. An overview of its pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic properties, and a review of its therapeutic potential in senile cognitive disordersLee CR et al. Drugs Aging. 1994 Review
3. 3.Allosteric potentiation of quisqualate receptors by a nootropic drug aniracetamIto I et al. J Physiol. 1990 Cells / in vitro
4. 4.Aniracetam does not alter cognitive and affective behavior in adult C57BL/6J miceElston TW et al. PLoS One. 2014 Animal study
5. 5.Five Unapproved Drugs Found in Cognitive Enhancement SupplementsCohen PA et al. Neurol Clin Pract. 2021 Product testing