The efficacy of semax in the treatment of patients at different stages of ischemic stroke
Gusev EI, Martynov MY, Kostenko EV, et al. (2018). Zhurnal nevrologii i psikhiatrii im. S.S. Korsakova.
Summary
A Russian study of 110 people recovering from ischaemic stroke, divided into early and late rehabilitation groups, each further split by whether semax was given alongside rehabilitation. The authors report that semax raised plasma BDNF, a nerve growth factor, and that this stayed elevated through the study; Barthel index scores, a measure of independence in daily activities, improved faster and ended higher in the semax groups, and motor performance correlated with early rehabilitation. The report describes group comparisons rather than a randomised placebo-controlled design, and the peptide is in routine clinical use in the country where the study was run.