Cerebrolysin for acute ischaemic stroke.
BACKGROUND
Cerebrolysin is a mixture of low-molecular-weight peptides and amino acids derived from pigs' brain tissue which has proposed neuroprotective and neurotrophic properties. It is widely used in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke in Russia and China.


OBJECTIVE
To assess the benefits and risks of cerebrolysin for treating acute ischaemic stroke.


METHODS
We searched the Cochrane Stroke Group Trials Register (February 2009), the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) (The Cochrane Library Issue 1, 2009), MEDLINE (1966 to February 2009), EMBASE (1974 to February 2009), LILACS (1982 to February 2009), Science Citation Index (1940 to February 2009), SIGLE Archive (1980 to March 2005), and a number of relevant Russian Databases (1988 to February 2009). We also searched reference lists, ongoing trials registers and conference proceedings.


METHODS
Randomised controlled trials comparing cerebrolysin with placebo or no treatment in patients with acute ischaemic stroke.


METHODS
Three review authors independently applied the inclusion criteria, assessed trial quality and extracted the data.


RESULTS
We included one trial involving 146 participants. There was no difference in death (6/78 in the cerebrolysin group versus 6/68 in the placebo group; risk ratio (RR) 0.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.29 to 2.58) or in the total number of adverse events (16.4% versus 10.3%; RR 1.62, 95% CI 0.69 to 3.82) between the treatment and control groups.


CONCLUSIONS
There is not enough evidence to evaluate the effect of cerebrolysin on survival and dependency in people with acute ischaemic stroke. High-quality and large-scale randomised controlled trials may help to gain a better understanding of the potential value of cerebrolysin in acute ischaemic stroke.
Ziganshina
Lilia E
LE
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacotherapy, Kazan State Medical Academy, 11 Mushtari Street, 420012, 14-15 Malaya Krasnaya Street, 420015, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russian Federation.
Abakumova
Tatyana
T
Kuchaeva
Alexandra
A
D000596:Amino Acids / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D020521:Stroke / Q000188:drug therapy*
D000596:Amino Acids; D018696:Neuroprotective Agents; C006952:cerebrolysin