Nefiracetam is a racetam developed by Daiichi in Japan under the code DM-9384, built from piracetam by replacing the simple amide with a 2,6-dimethylphenyl amide.
Amounts reported for Nefiracetam are listed under Reported protocols, each with its source and study kind. No amount ladder is inferred from them. This is educational source context, not a protocol or recommendation.
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Human study rows are described per source under Reported protocols; they belong to their trial populations and are not a general amount.
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What published studies and recent community write-ups report about amounts, timing and course length. 5 clinical, 3 preclinical and 2 community-reported rows, each linked to its source. These are descriptions of what others report, not instructions, and nothing here is medical advice.
| Context | Dose | Frequency | Route | Course | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical5 rows | |||||
| Post-stroke depression trial159 patients with major depression within 3 months of stroke | 600 mg or 900 mg per day | Daily | Oral | Double-blind treatment period of the trialNone described | Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (PubMed)2008 |
| Nefiracetam did not beat placebo on the primary depression outcome; response rates above 70 percent and remission above 40 percent were seen in every arm including placebo. Only the most severely depressed fifth of patients improved more on 900 mg a day, a subgroup finding the authors themselves called preliminary. | |||||
| Apathy in post-stroke depression70 stroke patients with major depression who also met criteria for apathy | 600 mg or 900 mg per day | Daily | Oral | At least 4 weeks of treatmentNone described | Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (PubMed)2009 |
| Patients on 900 mg a day showed a larger fall in Apathy Scale scores than those on 600 mg or placebo, which is the only positive human result for the compound. It is a secondary analysis of the depression trial above, run by the same group. | |||||
| Post-stroke apathy trial (Australia)13 patients randomised out of 2514 screened at two Perth hospitals, with apathy 8-36 weeks after stroke | 900 mg per day | Daily | Oral | 12 weeksNone described | Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases (PubMed)2016 |
| Apathy scores fell by about 7 points overall but there was no difference between nefiracetam and placebo. The authors concluded the drug was not more effective than placebo and that recruiting for behavioural drug trials after stroke is very hard. | |||||
| Phase 2 Alzheimer's trial (registered; results never posted)50 patients aged 50-90 with mild to moderate probable Alzheimer's disease | 3 pills twice a day (strength not stated in the registry record) | Twice daily | Oral | 20 weeks, with an optional 7-month extensionNone described | ClinicalTrials.gov1999 |
| This NINDS-sponsored double-blind, placebo-controlled study ran from July 1999 to January 2002 at the NIH Clinical Center and is marked completed, but no results were posted and no publication has been identified. The registry notes a precaution against enrolling men wishing to conceive because of potential effects on spermatogenesis, echoing the dog toxicology. | |||||
| Human pharmacokineticsHealthy Japanese male volunteers | 10-200 mg single doses; 200 mg three times a day in the multiple-dose study | Single dose, then three times daily | Oral | 7 days of repeated dosingNot applicable | Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology (PubMed)1992 |
| Serum levels peaked within 2 hours and fell with a half-life of 3-5 hours, exposure rose linearly with dose, less than 10 percent was excreted unchanged in urine, food delayed absorption without changing overall exposure, and there was no meaningful accumulation on repeated dosing. | |||||
| Preclinical3 rows | |||||
| Beta-amyloid memory impairment in ratsRats given continuous intracerebroventricular beta-amyloid 1-42 | 1-10 mg/kg (3 mg/kg for the choline acetyltransferase measurement) | Given 1 hour before each behavioural test | Oral | Acute dosing before testsNot applicable | British Journal of Pharmacology (PubMed)1999 |
| Nefiracetam reversed the Y-maze, water-maze and passive-avoidance deficits produced by amyloid infusion, raised hippocampal choline acetyltransferase activity and increased dopamine turnover. This is the preclinical rationale for the Alzheimer's trial; the effective rat doses are far below the per-kilogram human doses used in the stroke trials. | |||||
| Kidney toxicity in dogsBeagle dogs, with comparison studies in rats and monkeys | 300 mg/kg per day | Once daily | Oral | 11 weeksNot applicable | European Journal of Pharmacology (PubMed)2003 |
| Only dogs developed renal papillary necrosis, first visible as reduced urine osmolality from week 5 and tissue necrosis by week 8, which the authors attributed to a metabolite (M-18) concentrating in the canine renal papilla and suppressing prostaglandin synthesis. Rats and monkeys were unaffected at the doses tested. | |||||
| Testicular toxicity in dogsMale beagle dogs | 180 or 300 mg/kg per day | Once daily | Oral | Single dose, 1 week and 4 weeksNot applicable | Reproductive Toxicology (PubMed)2004 |
| Testicular testosterone fell within 4 hours of a single 300 mg/kg dose, serum testosterone fell after 1-2 weeks, and 4 weeks of dosing produced moderate to severe seminiferous atrophy with reduced sperm motility. The authors trace the effect to impaired conversion of progesterone to testosterone in Leydig cells. These are high-dose dog findings, but they explain the fertility caution in the human trial record. | |||||
| Community-reported2 rows | |||||
| Supplement blog dose range | 150-450 mg per day | 2-3 divided doses, the last before evening | Oral powder or capsules, taken with a fat source | Daily use described, with full effect expected after about a weekNot specified | Community resource2023 |
| This 2023 blog post recommends starting at the lowest dose and quotes a 3-5 hour half-life, which matches the human pharmacokinetic study. It dismisses the dog testicular findings as irrelevant at these amounts, a judgement it does not support with data, and it ends with a vendor recommendation. | |||||
| Vendor research-use listing | 100 mg per capsule, 60 capsules per bottle | Not stated (sold for laboratory research only) | Oral capsule format | Not statedNot stated | Community resource2026 |
| Vendor claim. The vendor sells nefiracetam as 100 mg capsules with a third-party report measuring 107.6-114.7 mg per capsule across three samples. The page cites the Daiichi development history but gives no dosing information and states the product is not for human consumption. | |||||
Plus 2 community resources (dosing guides, forum threads and vendor write-ups), reported above but not linked.
Nefiracetam is a racetam developed by Daiichi in Japan under the code DM-9384, built from piracetam by replacing the simple amide with a 2,6-dimethylphenyl amide. It reached phase 3 in Japan for the after-effects of stroke, but Daiichi withdrew its Japanese application in 2002 for lack of efficacy, and the published human trials are three post-stroke depression and apathy studies at 600-900 mg a day plus one US Alzheimer's trial whose results were never posted. Dog toxicology found kidney and testicular damage at high doses, and it has never been approved anywhere.
These themes describe recurring questions in published research. They are not claims of effectiveness or recommendations for use.
Neuroplasticity, cognition, stress and sleep models.
Nefiracetam did not beat placebo on the primary depression outcome; response rates above 70 percent and remission above 40 percent were seen in every arm including placebo. Only the most severely depressed fifth of.
Patients on 900 mg a day showed a larger fall in Apathy Scale scores than those on 600 mg or placebo, which is the only positive human result for the compound. It is a secondary analysis of the depression trial above.
Apathy scores fell by about 7 points overall but there was no difference between nefiracetam and placebo. The authors concluded the drug was not more effective than placebo and that recruiting for behavioural drug.
This NINDS-sponsored double-blind, placebo-controlled study ran from July 1999 to January 2002 at the NIH Clinical Center and is marked completed, but no results were posted and no publication has been identified. The.
Serum levels peaked within 2 hours and fell with a half-life of 3-5 hours, exposure rose linearly with dose, less than 10 percent was excreted unchanged in urine, food delayed absorption without changing overall.
Study models remain visible so laboratory and animal findings are not mistaken for established human outcomes.
5 protocol rows on this page come from human trials, trial registrations, regulator labels or reviews of human data. Approval status and populations are stated per row.
3 protocol rows describe animal, cell or toxicology work. Amounts from these rows do not translate to people.
2 rows record what blogs, vendor write-ups or forums describe for Nefiracetam. None has been verified against primary literature.
Sequence, synonyms and registry identifiers as recorded in PubChem, the National Library of Medicine's open chemistry database. Formula, mass and CAS number are summarized at the top of the page.
DM-9384, DZL-221, Translon, Motiva, 2-Oxo-1-pyrrolidineaceto-2',6'-xylidide, DMPPA, UNII 1JK12GX30N, NSC-759830
NGHTXZCKLWZPGK-UHFFFAOYSA-N
N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)acetamide
8 curated references, each with its journal, year and study model, plus 2 community resources reported but not linked.