NSI-189 Review
NSI-189 is an experimental anti-depressive drug being actively studied by Neuralstem, Inc. Find out everything you need about NSI-189’s potential usages today in our review.
What is NSI-189?
NSI-189 is an experimental drug that has not yet been released to the public. The drug is undergoing active research by a company called Neuralstem, Inc.
Before you think this is just another shady, low-quality nootropic smart drug, you should realize that the US government has taken a keen interest in NSI-189. Research into NSI-189 is being funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as well as the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Both organizations are interested in the drug for its potential ability to treat major depressive disorder.
Some people also believe that DARPA is interested in the drug because it can help soldiers stay awake and alert while on active duty.
The drug’s systematic name is (4-Benzylpiperazin-1-yl)-[2-(3-methylbutylamino)pyridin-3-yl]methanone. You can understand why people like to shorten the name to NSI-189.
Chemically speaking, NSI-189 consists of the following formula:
C22H30N4O
NSI-189 is currently an unscheduled drug and has not been classified by any major organization in the world today.
If and when the drug is released, it will be available through an oral formula. If you see NSI-189 on sale online today, then it’s being sold illegally: the drug’s patent holder, Neuralstem, Inc., has not yet released a commercial NSI-189 product and is issuing cease and desist orders to anyone who sells the drug online.
How Does NSI-189 Work?
The drug is still undergoing active research, so we don’t totally know how it works. However, when tested on adult mice, NSI-189 has been shown to increase their hippocampal volume by 20%.
Further in vitro and in vivo studies on human hippocampal stem cells showed that NSI-189 stimulated neurogenesis (the formation of new brain cells).
This is important because the hippocampus is the part of your brain that transforms your short-term memories into long-term memories.
The hippocampus also plays critical roles in your spatial navigation and in your mood regulation.
In other words, NSI-189 may be able to increase memory while also boosting spatial thinking and improving your mood. That’s why people are getting excited about the drug.
Scientific Evidence for NSI-189
So far, NSI-189 has undergone a handful of clinical trials, including several clinical trials involving humans.
The drug completed a phase 1 clinical trial in 2011. In that study, it was administered to 35 healthy volunteers. The study was randomized and placebo-controlled and simply determined the safety and tolerability of NSI-189: it did not seek to determine its effectiveness. The study was led by Neuralstem, Inc. under the health authority of the US Food and Drug Administration. The results of this clinical trial have not yet been published.
A phase 1b clinical trial was launched in 2012 and completed in July 2014. That clinical trial sought to assess the effectiveness of NSI-189 at treating major depressive order. The study involved 24 patients with pre-existing major depressive disorders. Researchers observed that patients’ conditions improved when they received a dose of 40 or 80mg of NSI-189 per day, but there were no further improvements at a dosage of 120mg per day.
Potential Uses for NSI-189
Scientific evidence for NSI-189 is minimal at this time. However, researchers believe it could play a valuable role in a wide range of brain disorders, including:
— Major Depressive Disorder
— Traumatic Brain Injury
— Alzheimer’s Disease
— Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
— Stroke
— Natural Cognitive And Memory Decline Related To Aging
About Neuralstem, Inc.
Research on NSI-189 is being led by an American company named Neuralstem, Inc. For years, that company has been “engaged in its own drug discovery program with… human hippocampal stem cell lines” — Neuralstem.com/pharmaceuticals
In 2009, Neuralstem, Inc. was granted patents on its four first in-class chemical entities that boost the generation of new neurons. NSI-189 was the first of these four to be involved in a major clinical trial.
Neuralstem Inc. also had the first FDA-approved neural stem cell trial for the treatment of ALS.
The company specializes in stem cell research and claims to be one of the few companies that can “create neural stem cells of the human brain and spinal cord in commercial quantities.”
Neuralstem was founded in 1996 and can be found online at Neuralstem.com
The company is headquartered at the following address in Maryland:
Neuralstem Inc.20271 Goldenrod Lane, 2nd Floor
Germantown, MD 20876
You can contact the company by phone at 301-366-4960.
Future Plans for NSI-189
NSI-189 is not currently available and it may not be available for many years (if at all). More research needs to be done on the safety and effectiveness of NSI-189 in human subjects. The drug has shown early promise as a treatment for major depressive disorder, but its effectiveness as a nootropic has not been tested.
However, the drug’s manufacturer, Neuralstem, Inc. claims that the company will develop the chemical into an orally-administered drug in the future:
“NSI-189 is the lead compound in Neuralstem's neurogenic small molecule drug platform, which the company plans to develop into orally administered drugs for MDD and other psychiatric and cognitive disorders like traumatic brain injury, Alzheimer's disease and pre-Alzheimer’s dementia, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).”
Clearly, the company believes its drug can be used to treat more than just major depressive disorder.
To clarify its stance on the topic, Neuralstem follows up by saying that it believes PTSD, Alzheimer’s, traumatic brain injury, and other degenerative conditions can all be treated using NSI-189:
“The company believes that all of these indications may be treated by reversing hippocampal atrophy. This is an entirely new approach to treating these devastating diseases and conditions.”
How to Buy NSI-189
You cannot currently buy NSI-189 legally, although some people on the internet claim to have purchased the drug online from major nootropics retailers.
One of the most confusing parts about NSI-189 is that users on Reddit’s infamous /r/nootropics subreddit claim to have purchased and used NSI-189. How have these users used an experimental drug?
Well, anyone who has purchased NSI-189 has done so illegally: numerous nootropics retailers used to feature NSI-189 supplements. THT used to carry it before they went out of business. International Peptide also used to carry it.
However, any retailer that currently advertises the sale of NSI-189 will quickly receive a cease and desist order from Neuralstem, Inc. The chemical formula is patented (yes, you can patent a chemical formula). So even if you can put the chemical together yourself in a lab, you can’t legally package it up and sell it as NSI-189.
If you really want to buy NSI-189, then there are users posting in this thread who appear to be PMing users interested in buying some. But you didn’t hear it from me.
Who Should Buy NSI-189?
Nobody should buy NSI-189 right now because there are no legal NSI-189 retailers or vendors.
Until NSI-189’s patent holder, Neuralstem, Inc., releases its own commercial product, then you’ll just have to wait to (legally) try this one for yourself.
flarn’s got you there Ok. What do you, as a consumer, care? Lol only the distributors are at risk. AFAIK, it’s not even illegal to synth it yourself, just illegal to market since they own the rights.
Yeah, right…who cares if it’s patented, it’s been around for a very long time and this company bought the “rights” to it because they see big money charging people way more than they should for something many people are desperate for. Screw pharmaceutical companies!
Why are you saying nobody should be buying it right now? It’s just a patent issue; it may be illegally sold, but that doesn’t mean it’s illegal to buy or use it.