Noopept
A Russian dipeptide-derived nootropic: rodent memory data, two small open human studies, and a US supplement problem
Noopept, also called omberacetam, is a modified dipeptide: proline and glycine with a phenylacetyl cap and an ethyl ester tail, developed in Russia as a dipeptide analogue of piracetam that works by mouth. Most of its evidence is rodent memory work. The human studies are two small open Russian reports and a comparison with piracetam whose abstract is not in PubMed. It is not approved in the US, yet a 2021 analysis found it in cognitive-enhancement supplements at up to four times a typical drug dose.
What is it?
Noopept is not a peptide in the usual sense but a capped dipeptide: proline and glycine, with a phenylacetyl group on one end and an ethyl ester on the other, which lets it work by mouth. Its international non-proprietary name is omberacetam and its code name GVS-111. It was developed in Russia as a dipeptide analogue of the older nootropic piracetam, and it is approved there.
Most of the evidence is in rodents. Given by mouth, it reversed amnesia in rats at 0.5 to 10 mg/kg, and in mice with an Alzheimer's-like brain lesion a tiny dose, 0.01 mg/kg for three weeks, restored spatial memory. It raised NGF and BDNF messenger RNA in the rat hippocampus, with no tolerance after four weeks. It may act largely through a metabolite: an hour after injection, noopept itself could not be found in rat brain, but cyclo-prolylglycine, a molecule the brain also makes, had risen 2.5-fold.
The human record is thin. In an open study of 60 stroke patients, 20 mg a day for two months improved MMSE and verbal fluency scores compared with controls, and an EEG study in patients with post-traumatic or vascular cognitive problems found the shifts typical of nootropics. A comparison with piracetam in mild cognitive disorders is in PubMed without an abstract, so this page states nothing about its results. None of these abstracts describes a blinded, placebo-controlled design.
The safety record is mostly silence, with one laboratory finding worth knowing: in rats, noopept and its metabolite had anticoagulant and clot-dissolving effects, so combining it with blood thinners carries an unstudied risk. In the US it is not an approved drug and, in our tracker's words, not a lawful supplement ingredient. Yet a 2021 analysis of ten cognitive-enhancement supplements found omberacetam among five unapproved drugs, with one serving holding four times a typical 10 mg dose and three-quarters of declared quantities wrong.
Mechanism of Action
Four mechanisms recur in the abstracts, all from rodents and cell lines. How much of any of them happens in people is unknown.
A metabolite doing the work
One hour after 5 mg/kg by injection, noopept was undetectable in rat brain, while cyclo-prolylglycine, which the brain also contains naturally, had risen 2.5-fold. Plasma and brain tissue converted noopept to it, which is why the metabolite is thought to carry much of the effect.
Neurotrophins
A single dose raised NGF and BDNF messenger RNA in the rat hippocampus, while lowering it in the cortex; after 28 days of treatment the hippocampal effect was, if anything, stronger, with no sign of tolerance.
Blood clotting
In rats given 1 mg/kg by injection or 10 mg/kg by mouth daily for 10 days, noopept had anticoagulant and fibrinolytic effects and reduced factor XIIIa activity, which stabilises clots. Its metabolite did the same in test tubes at very low concentrations and also reduced platelet aggregation.
No push to cell growth
Because it raises growth factors, a 2019 study checked whether it drives cell division. In two human cell lines, it changed neither the distribution of cells across the cell cycle nor the proliferation marker Ki-67.
Published Research
Our evidence set holds 44 papers on noopept; 35 name it, or GVS-111, in the title, and nearly all of those are Russian animal or cell studies. The eight cards below favour the human studies and the findings that bear on safety. Two more papers are listed in References without a card: the piracetam comparison, which has no abstract in PubMed, and the 2021 supplement analysis, which names the drug only by its international name, omberacetam.
Stroke patients with mild cognitive impairment
In an open prospective study of 60 stroke patients, 20 mg of noopept a day for two months significantly improved MMSE scores and verbal fluency (lateral and categorical associations) compared with controls, and global assessment showed mild improvement, with none in the control group. The authors describe its safety as high but give no adverse-event figures.
EEG in cognitive and asthenic disorders
In patients with cognitive and asthenic problems after brain trauma or vascular disease, noopept raised alpha and beta power and lowered delta power, changes the authors read as typical of nootropics, with nonspecific activation and an anti-anxiety effect. The changes were clearest in vascular disease and less typical after trauma.
Does it drive cell growth?
In HEK293 and SH-SY5Y human cell lines, noopept did not change the distribution of cells across the G1, S and G2 phases or the level of the proliferation marker Ki-67, which the authors take as evidence that it does not stimulate cell growth.
Memory in an Alzheimer's-like mouse model
Mice with olfactory bulbs removed develop Alzheimer's-like memory loss and amyloid changes. Noopept at 0.01 mg/kg for 21 days, plus five days of training, restored spatial memory in the water maze and raised antibodies to prefibrillar amyloid-β(25–35), but not to other amyloids or to S100b.
Its main metabolite in rat brain
An hour after 5 mg/kg by injection, noopept itself was undetectable in rat brain. Of its three possible metabolites, all also present in untreated brains, only cyclo-prolylglycine rose, 2.5-fold, and plasma and brain tissue formed it from noopept.
NGF and BDNF in rat hippocampus
A single dose lowered NGF and BDNF messenger RNA in the cortex but raised both in the hippocampus. After 28 days the cortex showed a slight BDNF rise, and the hippocampal effect was potentiated rather than blunted, with no development of tolerance.
Active by mouth in rats
Given orally at 0.5 to 10 mg/kg, noopept kept the anti-amnesic effect seen after injection in a passive-avoidance task, and in a one-session learning task it helped rats that had failed at first. On that measure it differed from both its metabolite and piracetam.
Anticoagulant effects in rats
At 1 mg/kg by injection or 10 mg/kg by mouth daily for 10 days, noopept showed anticoagulant and fibrinolytic activity and reduced factor XIIIa activity, weakening clot stabilisation. Its metabolite cyclo-prolylglycine had the same effects in test tubes down to 10⁻¹⁰ M, and also reduced platelet aggregation.
Dosing Data
Noopept is taken by mouth in milligram doses. Our dataset records the Russian clinical dose; the one human study with a stated dose used 20 mg a day, and the rodent studies span very different doses per kilogram.
Educational information, not medical advice. Each dose above is tagged with its source: an approved label, a published human study, animal data, or amounts reported by users. None is a recommendation for you. An unapproved compound has no established safe or effective human dose, and products sold for “research use only” are not made or tested for people. Talk to a doctor before acting on anything on this site, including before you start, stop or change any medicine or dose. Full medical disclaimer.
Side Effects & Contraindications
Reported Side Effects
The human abstracts report benefits and describe good tolerability without adverse-event figures, so this list leans on laboratory findings.
Contraindications & Cautions
No study defined who should avoid noopept. These cautions follow from the laboratory findings and from how it is sold.
Legal Status
Noopept is approved in Russia and in none of the other jurisdictions below. Status as of September 26, 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
?Is noopept a racetam?
Not structurally. It is a capped dipeptide, not a pyrrolidone like piracetam, although it was developed as a piracetam analogue and is often grouped with the racetams. In one rat learning task it behaved differently from piracetam.
?Has noopept been tested in people?
Only in small Russian studies: an open study of 60 stroke patients, an EEG study, and a comparison with piracetam whose abstract is not in PubMed. None of the abstracts describes a blinded, placebo-controlled trial.
?Is noopept legal in the US?
It is not FDA-approved, and our tracker notes it is not a lawful supplement ingredient. Even so, a 2021 study found it, as omberacetam, in cognitive-enhancement supplements bought online, sometimes at four times a typical dose. Status as of September 26, 2026.
?How does noopept work?
In rats, it is quickly converted to cyclo-prolylglycine, a molecule the brain also makes, and it raises NGF and BDNF messenger RNA in the hippocampus. None of this has been measured in people.
?Does noopept thin the blood?
In rats and test tubes, noopept and its metabolite had anticoagulant, clot-dissolving and antiplatelet effects. Nobody has measured this in people, which is exactly why combining it with blood thinners is a concern.
?If it raises growth factors, could it promote cancer?
There is no human evidence either way. The one relevant laboratory study found it did not stimulate proliferation in two human cell lines, which is reassuring but far from proof.
References
- [pubmed] Amelin AV, et al. "[Noopept in the treatment of mild cognitive impairment in patients with stroke]." Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova, 2011;111(10 Pt 1):44-6. PMID: 22500312.
- [pubmed] Bochkarev VK, et al. "[Clinical and electroencephalographic characteristic of noopept in patients with mild cognitive impairment of posttraumatic and vascular origin]." Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova, 2008;108(11):47-54. PMID: 19008801.
- [pubmed] Zainullina LF, et al. "Drug with Neuroprotective Properties Noopept Does Not Stimulate Cell Proliferation." Bull Exp Biol Med, 2019;166(4):466-468. PMID: 30788746.
- [pubmed] Ostrovskaya RU, et al. "The nootropic and neuroprotective proline-containing dipeptide noopept restores spatial memory and increases immunoreactivity to amyloid in an Alzheimer's disease model." J Psychopharmacol, 2007;21(6):611-9. PMID: 17092975.
- [pubmed] Gudasheva TA, et al. "The major metabolite of dipeptide piracetam analogue GVS-111 in rat brain and its similarity to endogenous neuropeptide cyclo-L-prolylglycine." Eur J Drug Metab Pharmacokinet, 1997;22(3):245-52. PMID: 9358206.
- [pubmed] Ostrovskaya RU, et al. "Noopept stimulates the expression of NGF and BDNF in rat hippocampus." Bull Exp Biol Med, 2008;146(3):334-7. PMID: 19240853.
- [pubmed] Ostrovskaya RU, et al. "Proline-containing dipeptide GVS-111 retains nootropic activity after oral administration." Bull Exp Biol Med, 2001;132(4):959-62. PMID: 11782792.
- [pubmed] Ostrovskaia RU, et al. "[Multicomponent antithrombotic effect of the neuroprotective prolyl dipeptide GVS-111 and its major metabolite cyclo-L-prolylglycine]." Eksp Klin Farmakol, 2002;65(2):34-7. PMID: 12109290.
- [pubmed] Neznamov GG, Teleshova ES. "Comparative studies of Noopept and piracetam in the treatment of patients with mild cognitive disorders in organic brain diseases of vascular and traumatic origin." Neurosci Behav Physiol, 2009;39:311-321. PMID: 19234797.
- [pubmed] Cohen PA, et al. "Five Unapproved Drugs Found in Cognitive Enhancement Supplements." Neurol Clin Pract, 2021;11(3):e303-e307. PMID: 34484905.
Sources & Citations
Every PMID on this page is PubMed-indexed and has been checked against its record. Two References entries carry no card: a comparison with piracetam that has no abstract in PubMed, for which this page states nothing beyond its title, and a 2021 supplement analysis that names the drug only as omberacetam. Grey Peptides sells nothing and links to no vendor.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, and nothing here is an instruction to obtain or use any compound. Talk to a licensed clinician about your own situation.