Phenylpiracetam, also known as fonturacetam (INNTooltip International nonproprietary name) and sold under the brand names Phenotropil, Actitropil, and Carphedon among others, is a stimulant and nootropic medication used in Russia and certain other Eastern European countries in the treatment of cerebrovascular deficiency, depression, apathy, and attention, and memory problems, among other indications.

[2] Development of (R)-phenylpiracetam (code name MRZ-9547) in the West as a potential treatment for fatigue related to Parkinson's disease began by 2014.

[2][1][3] It is specifically approved in Russia for treatment of cerebrovascular deficiency, depression, apathy, attention deficits, and memory decline.

[2][1] Phenylpiracetam is typically prescribed as a general stimulant or to increase tolerance to extreme temperatures and stress.

[2] A few small clinical studies have shown possible links between prescription of phenylpiracetam and improvement in a number of encephalopathic conditions, including lesions of cerebral blood pathways, traumatic brain injury and certain types of glioma.

[3] Side effects of phenylpiracetam include insomnia or sleep disturbances, psychomotor agitation, flushing, a feeling of warmth, and increased blood pressure, among others.

[4] Experiments performed on Sprague-Dawley rats in a European patent for using phenylpiracetam to treat sleep disorders showed an increase in extracellular dopamine levels after administration.

[21] The peculiarity of this invention compared to former treatment approaches for treating sleep disorders is the so far unknown therapeutic efficacy of (R)-phenylpiracetam, which is presumably based at least in part on the newly identified activity of (R)-phenylpiracetam as the dopamine re-uptake inhibitorBoth enantiomers of phenylpiracetam, (R)-phenylpiracetam and (S)-phenylpiracetam, have been described in peer-reviewed research as dopamine transporter (DAT) inhibitors in rodents, confirming the patent claim.

[31] Phenylpiracetam binds to α4β2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the mouse brain cortex with an IC50Tooltip half-maximal inhibitory concentration of 5.86 μM.

[2][35] Phenylpiracetam has been shown to reverse the sedative or depressant effects of the benzodiazepine diazepam, increases operant behavior, inhibits post-rotational nystagmus, prevents retrograde amnesia, and has anticonvulsant properties in animal models.

[2][5][32][8][36] In Wistar rats with gravitational cerebral ischemia, phenylpiracetam reduced the extent of neuralgic deficiency manifestations, retained the locomotor, research, and memory functions, increased the survival rate, and lead to the favoring of local cerebral flow restoration upon the occlusion of carotid arteries to a greater extent than did piracetam.

[20] Present data show that (R)-phenylpiracetam increases motivation, i.e., the work load, which animals are willing to perform to obtain more rewarding food.

[2][8] In contrast to piracetam and most other racetams however, phenylpiracetam contains β-phenylethylamine within its chemical structure and hence can additionally be conceptualized as a substituted phenethylamine.

Phenylpiracetam was created at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Biomedical Problems in an effort led by psychopharmacologist Valentina Ivanovna Akhapkina (Валентина Ивановна Ахапкина).

He reported "the drug acts as the equalizer of the whole organism, "tidying it up", completely excluding impulsiveness and irritability inevitable in the stressful conditions of space flight.

"[45] While not prescribed as a pharmaceutical in the West, in Russia and certain other Eastern European countries it is available as a prescription medicine under brand names including Phenotropil (also spelled Fenotropil, Phenotropyl, and Fenotropyl), Actitropil, and Nanotropil, among others.