Nooglutyl nootropic effect

Nooglutyl (N-(5-hydroxynicotinyl)-L-glutamic acid, OHK-10) is a Russian drug structurally similar to Picamilon. It combines a molecule of l-glutamic acid and hydroxynicotinic acid (a derivative of niacin – vitamin B3). It penetrates the blood-brain barrier. Like niacin, it has anxiolytic effects and dilates blood vessels in the brain.

There are few studies available on this drug. There are equally few accounts of people who have used nooglutile on its own as a nootropic substance. Below, I have briefly discussed most of the available studies related to the CNS effects of nooglutile.

Withdrawal from benzodiazepines

Nooglutyl has been shown in a rat study to be helpful in the withdrawal of benzodiazepines ( diazepam was used in this case). Benzodiazepines are psychotropic substances with anti-anxiety, sedative and sleep-inducing effects. They work very effectively, but once they are discontinued, anxiety and other problems return, and the withdrawal itself can be as difficult for some patients as discontinuing alcohol. It turns out that nooglutyl significantly reduces anxiety caused by withdrawal from benzodiazepines.

In addition, nooglutile causes an increase in the density of D2 dopamine receptors.

AMPA receptor agonist

Nooglutile is a potent selective agonist of AMPA receptors. AMPAs are one of the four primary types of glutamic acid receptors. AMPA receptors are crucial in the generation of epileptic seizures. And, more importantly for our consideration, with long-term depression, the number of AMPA receptors decreases. Nooglutile is a potent agonist of AMPA receptors. An order of magnitude more potent than Noopept.

Prevents neuronal damage

In a mouse study, Nooglutyl showed strong anti-amnestic (prevents memory loss) and anti-hypoxic (prevents neuronal damage caused by oxygen deprivation) effects. It outperforms piracetam and meclofenoxate in this regard and matches aniracetam. And it has low toxicity.

It abolishes the amnesic effects of scopolamine and clonidine in rats.

Nooglutil, piracetam and meclofenoxate were studied. All three nootropic drugs showed this effect – after five days of use, the amnesic symptoms artificially induced in the animals passed. The observers concluded that the anti-amnesic effect of the tested nootropic drugs is probably realized through their effects on cholinergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic neurotransmission.

Action against motion sickness

Here I can’t write much more, since I haven’t read the article. I give it as a curiosity.

Nooglutyl normalizes behavior

Nooglutyl prevents motor hyperactivity and normalizes the behavior of adult rats in the following study. In addition, it restored normal growth in rats and prevented slowed behavior. Earlier in fetal life, the rats were subjected to factors that cause these deficits.

Nooglutile saves damaged neurons from death

Brain injury leads to inhibition of respiration in mitochondria in various metabolic states. Nooglutyl at a dose of 50 mg/kg prevents these changes. Nooglutyl is more effective than picamilon (500 mg/kg) and piritinol (100 mg/kg).

Effectively eliminates the effects of hypoxia

Nooglutile (along with piracetam, mexidol and beglimine) is one of the most effective nootropic drugs in eliminating various cognitive and memory impairments caused by hypoxia.

Hypoxia and hypoxic adaptation are powerful factors controlling memory and behavioral processes. Acute hypoxia has differential effects on various deficits in mnesthetic and cognitive functions. To a greater extent, the basic reflexes of active and passive avoidance, negative learning, behavior with a change in the structure of learning are damaged.

Antihypoxic nootropic agents have a pronounced effect on hypoxia-induced cognitive and memory impairment, and the magnitude of this effect depends on the proportion of the relevant nootropic to antihypoxic components in the spectrum of drug pharmacological activity.

Nooglutyl prevents the effects of alcohol-induced fetal impairment

Administration of ethanol (5 g/kg/day, per os) to pregnant rats caused delayed learning and memory impairment in their offspring. Prenatal alcoholization of animals impaired the habit of outdoor exploration behavior, impaired the acquisition and maintenance of active avoidance in the pendulum box, increased the level of slow activity of the EEG spectrum, impaired the function of the serotonergic system in the cerebral cortex and the dopaminergic system in the hippocampus.

Administered at a dose of 25 mg/kg/day from day 8 to day 20, it prevented the above-mentioned slowed disorders of higher integrative functions and biochemical processes in the rat brain.

Nooglutyl’s anti-amnestic effects

In experiments on rats, it was found that some nootropic substances (oxyracetam, aniracetam, nooglutyl, mexidol, the new 3-hydroxypyridine derivative SK-170, piracetam and noopept) induce a pronounced anti-amnestic effect in various models of amnesia (induced by microwave radiation, acute hypoxia and motion sickness). At the same time, meclofenoxate showed anti-amnestic effects in the first and second amnesia models, while the 9-aminoacridine derivative HTOS-404 was effective only in the microwave radiation-induced amnesia model. The anti-amnestic effects of nooglutil and SK-170 were largely due to activation of non-NMDA excitatory amino acid receptors (generally AMPA receptors), while the effects of mexidol were related to GABA(A) receptors.

Reduces neurological deficits after brain injury

The effects of the new nootropic drug nooglutil, a positive modulator of glutamatergic receptors of the AMPA subtype, were studied in rats with a model of hemorrhagic stroke (HS) – a post-traumatic hematoma caused by destruction of brain tissue in the area of the inner meninges. Single intraperitoneal injections of nooglutil (10 and 20 mg/kg) 3-4 h after surgery reduced hemorrhagic stroke-induced neurological deficits, restored motor coordination, improved recovery of passive avoidance responses and prevented death in experimental animals. The results show evidence of a clear neuroprotective effect of nooglutil in rats with a hemorrhagic stroke model.

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12924225/

Improvement in older individuals

The effects of nooglutile on the memory and behavior of aging mice were studied. The animals had behavioral and memory deficits typical of aging individuals. Namely, decreased locomotor activity elevated anxiety and impaired retrieval of memory traces.

Nooglutyl at a dose of 20 mg/kg has positive effects on the behavior and memory of mice. Observed improvements include improved locomotor activity in the open field test, reduced anxiety in the elevated plus maze test, and improved ability to recover the passive avoidance reflex.

The neuroprotective properties of nootropic drugs have been studied. Nooglutil (along with beglimin) had moderate anti-ischemic, antihypoxic and anti-amnesic effects in the post-traumatic period (craniocerebral trauma model). Beglimin, nooglutyl and panangin were found to be important in the pharmacological treatment of secondary traumatic brain injury.