PIRACETAM

PIRACETAM: TECHNICAL SUMMARY


Piracetam [continuous nootropic]

Dosing: 1.6g 3x daily for 3 days (attack dose)
   0.8g 3x daily thereafter
Taking choline with piracetam is highly recommended

Reason for use: promotes verbal memory, increases cerebral blood flow1

Reason for dosing: 4.8g/day promotes rapid onset of effects, but leads to tolerance. Therefore, an "attack dose" of 4.8g/day is taken, then dosage is reduced to 2.4g/day -- this should promote rapid onset of effects while avoiding tolerance2. Some studies in alcohol-induced brain dysfunction show 4.8g/day as necessary for effectiveness3, but normal humans are closer to mildly impaired than severely impaired, so data from trials on mildly impaired subjects should be used in calculating dosage for normal man.

Special note: Taking choline with piracetam is highly recommended, for reasons elucidated on the choline page.


1) "Increase in the power of human memory in normal man through the use of drugs"
Subjects were given 1.6g Piracetam 3x daily. No effect after 7 days, but after 14 days verbal memory significantly increased vs. subjects given a placebo.

2) "Piracetam in elderly psychiatric patients with mild diffuse cerebral impairment"
Subjects were given 4.8g/day or 2.4g/day Piracetam. Both groups showed significant improvement versus the placebo group, but the 4.8g/day group had more rapid onset of theraputic effect. However, after 12 weeks the 4.8g/day group showed decreased effect vs. the 2.4g/day groups, due to overstimulation or tolerance.

3) "High versus low-dose Piracetam in alcohol organic mental disorder: a placebo controlled study"
Subjects given 2.4g/day showed no improvement vs. placebo. Subjects given 4.8g/day showed improvement vs. placebo.


CHOLINE

Choline [acetylcholine precursor nutrient]

Dosing: 0.5g 3x daily
I began taking choline on November 17, 2011 at 500mg/day, but as of January 31, 2012 increased my dosage to 1.5g/day.

Reason for use: Coadministration of choline with Piracetam is highly recommended. Piracetam acts on the cholinergic system, and depletes the brain's reserves of acetylcholine1. Furthermore, studies in rats have found that coadministration of choline and piracetam is significantly more effective than the administration of either alone1. Rat studies alone are insufficient to recommend particular combinations of compounds or dosings. However, these data are also supported by a clinical study in Alzheimer's patients. While not all patients in the study showed significant improvement, those who did were those with the highest blood serum concentration of choline2. This study was very small-scale, but when combined with plausible mechanisms within our understanding of the cholinergic system and data from animal trials, sufficient impetus exists to recommend the use of choline with Piracetam.

Reason for dosing: The recommended daily allowance of choline for adult men is 550mg/day, for adult women 425mg/day, and the tolerable upper intake level for both is 3500mg/day3. The vast majority of Americans do not consume sufficient choline4, so the choline supplementation outlined here is treated as if it were the only source, ignoring that obtained through normal diet. Studies which focus on choline and Piracetam coadministration typically administer them in equal measure1,2, but this is too close to the tolerable upper intake level (and in fact typically exceeds it by a factor of two or three) for continuous dosing. Personal experimentation has led me to conclude that taking 0.5g choline with every 0.8g Piracetam is ideal for my neurochemistry -- I was pleased to find that deliberately taking Piracetam with inadequate choline consistently induced headaches in me, and that taking choline thereafter eliminated them with equal consistency. This enabled me to optimize my choline dosing by finding the minimum amount necessary to prevent headaches, then multiplying by 1.5, assuming this to be near the optimum consumption level -- above the daily requirement, but below the suspiciously convenient equal measures used in most studies1,2. It is also plausible to assume that Piracetam increases the requirement for choline, considering its impact on the cholinergic system1.



1) "Profound Effects of Combining Choline and Piracetam on Memory Enhancement and Cholinergic Function in Aged Rats"
Rats given piracetam performed slightly better than control rats, but rats given the piracetam/choline combination exhibited retention scores several times better than those given piracetam alone. In a second study, it was shown that twice the dose of piracetam or choline alone, still did not enhance retention nearly as well as when piracetam and choline were administered together. Piracetam administered alone decreases hippocampal acetylcholine concentrations in rats.

2) "Clinical Response to Choline plus Piracetam in Senile Dementia: Relation to Red-Cell Choline Levels"
In a small clinical study of Alzheimer's patients, only three showed improvement. These three had the highest serum and erythrocyte choline levels in the group.

3) "Dietary Reference Intakes for Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline"
Institute of Medicine of the National Academies consensus report on required and maximum intakes.

4) "Choline: An Essential Nutrient for Public Health"
Mean choline intakes for older children, men, women and pregnant women are far below the Adequate Intake established by the Institute of Medicine.


La colina (derivato del greco χολή, kolè, "bile") è una sostanza organica classificata come nutriente essenziale. Viene denominata vitamina J e talvolta è accostata alle vitamine del Gruppo B.
È un costituente dei fosfolipidi che compongono la membrana cellulare e del neurotrasmettitore acetilcolina.
L'assunzione adeguata di questo micronutriente è stata calcolata dal Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences Statunitense, in 550 milligrammi per die.

Storia[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Fu scoperta da Andreas Strecker nel 1864 e fu sintetizzata per la prima volta nel 1866.

Chimica[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

La colina è un sale d'ammonio quaternario e la sua formula bruta è: [(CH3)3N+(CH2)2OH] X-, dove X- rappresenta un generico controanione del sale del controcatione della colina, come i controanionicloruroanione idrossido o bitartrato.
Il cloruro di colina, mischiato con l'urea, viene usato come solvente (DES).
Il salicilato di colina viene usato localmente per ridurre il dolore delle afte o per il dolore nelle otiti esterne.
Metabolismo della colina. (La colina è nel secondo rettangolo a sinistra dal basso.)

Fisiologia[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

La colina ed i suoi derivati sono coinvolti in tre importanti vie metaboliche:
  • integrità strutturale della membrana cellulare;
  • trasmissione dei segnali nervosi dopo trasformazione in acetilcolina (trasmissione colinergica);
  • principale sorgente di gruppi metile tramite il suo derivato, la betaina, intermedio nella biosintesi della S-adenosilmetionina.
La colina può essere metabolizzata nel corpo umano in trimetilammina (TMA), un composto dal caratteristico odore di pesce. Per questo motivo l'assunzione di grandi quantità di colina può far sì che il corpo emani un odore di pesce.

Fonti alimentari[modifica | modifica wikitesto]

Le principali fonti alimentari di colina sono il tuorlo d'uovo ed i semi di soia. La colina si trova anche nello zenzero e nel riso integrale. Molti altri alimenti contengono piccole quantità di colina, che si trova persino nella lattuga. Non è chiaro se queste fonti siano utilizzabili per assorbimento intestinale.
La colina è presente anche nella lecitina utilizzabile sia come additivo che come integratore alimentare. È disponibile anche la fosfatidil-colina in pillole o in polvere o anche come cloruro (liquida). Quest'ultima viene talvolta preferita a causa degli sgradevoli effetti collaterali legati alla somministrazione di fosfatidil-colina.[senza fonte] L'assunzione di oltre 310 mg /die di colina e/o di betaina riduce i livelli di CPRTNFomocisteina.[2]

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