Vinpocetine

About Vinpocetine

A semi-synthetic compound derived from vincamine, an alkaloid of the lesser periwinkle. It is a prescription medicine for cerebrovascular conditions in several countries and a supplement in the US.

Vinpocetine sits in an awkward gap: it was developed and licensed as a drug in Hungary in the 1970s, is prescribed for cerebrovascular disorders across parts of Europe and Asia, and is sold on American shelves as a dietary supplement. US regulators have twice signalled that they do not consider it a lawful dietary ingredient, and in 2019 they went further, issuing a public warning that pregnant women and women who could become pregnant should not take it, after animal studies found reduced fetal weight and increased risk of miscarriage at blood levels comparable to those seen in people taking it. Efficacy evidence for the conditions it is sold for in the US is thin: Cochrane reviewers examining vinpocetine for cognitive impairment found the evidence inconclusive.

Sold as

Tablet, Capsule, Nootropic blends, Prescription tablets and injection (outside the US)

Standardised to

Milligrams of vinpocetine — a product without this marker may not resemble what was studied.

Also known as

Cavinton, Ethyl apovincaminate, Periwinkle derivative

Regulation: US regulators issued a public advisory in 2019 warning that vinpocetine should not be taken by pregnant women or women who may become pregnant, and have stated it does not meet the definition of a dietary ingredient. It is banned as a supplement ingredient in Canada, and is a prescription-only medicine in Hungary, Germany, Russia, Japan and elsewhere. Selling a foreign prescription drug as a supplement is the core problem with this product.

What the research used

The amounts, forms and durations published trials of Vinpocetine actually administered.

When it was taken

Each window says whether a trial compared it against an alternative, or whether it is convention and pharmacology. Most timing advice is the second kind.