Vinpocetine is a synthetic compound made from vincamine, an alkaloid in the lesser periwinkle plant (Vinca minor), or from tabersonine in Voacanga seeds. FDA says it is not found in any plant itself. Products with vinpocetine are marketed for brain function, memory and focus, weight loss and energy, but FDA has not evaluated whether it works for any of these.
Also known as: ethyl apovincaminate, Vinca minor extract, lesser periwinkle extract, Cavinton.
Vinpocetine has no intake value and no approved US product. The dementia trials in the Cochrane review used 30 mg and 60 mg a day. These are study protocols, not a recommendation.
FDA warning: on June 3, 2019, FDA warned that vinpocetine is associated with adverse reproductive effects, meaning it may cause a miscarriage or harm fetal development. FDA advises pregnant women and women who could become pregnant not to take it, and asked supplement makers to add that warning to their labels.
Vinpocetine is sold as a dietary supplement, but in a 2016 Federal Register notice FDA tentatively concluded that it is not a dietary ingredient and is excluded from the definition of a dietary supplement, because it was authorized for investigation as a new drug before it was marketed as a supplement.
Evidence: a Cochrane review (2003) found 3 trials, all from before the 1990s, with 583 people with dementia. It called the evidence inconclusive and said it does not support clinical use, while noting few side effects at the doses studied. The review also noted that vinpocetine had not been approved by any regulatory body for cognitive impairment.
We could not find a published half-life or time to peak for vinpocetine that we could cite, so we do not list one.
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