Cortexin

1 Identity

Biological extract — compositionally undefined polypeptide fraction of mammalian cerebral cortex. Not a single chemical entity. it is not a Khavinson synthetic short peptide and must not be filed beside Cortagen (AEDP). "cortical polypeptide complex" and the vendor shorthand "brain peptide complex"; routinely confused in the same catalogs with Cerebrolysin.

Sequence

No defined sequence, and none can be written. The article is peptide material, but it has no single molecular identity: it is a preparation of water-soluble low-molecular-mass polypeptide fractions obtained by acid extraction of mammalian cerebral cortex, supplied lyophilized by JSC Geropharm (Russian Federation) in 5 mg and 10 mg presentations. No individual sequence is declared by the manufacturer or by any reseller, no reference standard exists, and the fraction size cut-off is nominal rather than specified. A certificate that prints a sequence, a residue string or a named component for Cortexin is describing something other than Cortexin.

Molecular formula

Not established, and not establishable. A molecular formula is a property of a single chemical entity; this article is a mixture whose members are neither enumerated nor bounded. This entry is not blank because the work has not been done — it is blank because the quantity does not exist for this article.

Average mass

Not established and non-existent. No reference standard for the article exists anywhere, so the number is not merely unconfirmed but undefined. The "5 mg" and "10 mg" on the manufacturer's label are lyophilized-solids fill weights: they are not molecular masses and they are not assays of any named substance. Any catalog, seller or certificate printing an average mass for Cortexin has manufactured the number.

Monoisotopic mass

Not established and non-existent, for the same reason. No monoisotopic value is recoverable from a mixture with no enumerated components; an ESI-MS trace of this article is a distribution, not a mass, and the distribution is a fingerprint of one manufacturing run rather than an identity.

Salt / variant note

Because there is no molecular identity, none of the following is distinguishable from Cortexin by any analytical arithmetic — which is itself the finding. (1) The Geropharm 10 mg in a 5 mL vial and the Geropharm 5 mg in a 3 mL vial, sold in packs of ten; these differ only in fill and are the reference articles. (2) Peptide-seller "Cortexin" research vials moving through the same channels that sell 60 mg "Cerebrolysin" powder; source, species and process undeclared. (3) Cerebrolysin (porcine, solution, 215.2 mg per mL, which holds its own record), Cerebrolysat, Cerebramin, and the Khavinson Cytomax natural organ-extract line. Every one is an undefined polypeptide fraction of nervous tissue and nothing on a certificate separates them. (4) species is the variant that matters. Cortical extracts of this class are declared cattle-derived, pig-derived or mixed depending on leaflet and production run; since no assay establishes species, the only available control is PCR species identification of the starting material, which establishes provenance and still does not establish identity.

2 Class & testing panel

Form

Single article

Testing panel

P7 — panel definition

3 Primary sources & evidence

The index reports the design and provenance of the literature, not a conclusion about effect.

Predominantly Russian-language clinical reports, largely open-label or uncontrolled, in domestic journals, together with rodent work. Study types present: uncontrolled and open-label clinical series; small comparative clinical studies; rodent studies. No Cochrane review was identified. No ClinicalTrials.gov or EU Clinical Trials Register registration was identified. No structure-activity literature is possible for the article and none exists, because structure-activity work requires a structure. The controlling limitation is carried on the evidence page in the same type size as the citations: with no reference standard, no laboratory anywhere can reproduce a reported result on the same material, so the literature is not independently checkable even in principle.

4 Storage & specification

Storage

Lyophilized solid in a sealed glass vial. The condition that would be labeled is 2 to 8 degrees C, protected from light and moisture, but the statement is hypothetical: with no identity assay there is no method by which any storage condition could be shown to preserve anything. No material is purchased and no condition is operated.

Shelf life

No retest interval can be assigned. A retest date is an output of a stability-indicating assay and no stability-indicating assay can be written for an article of undefined composition. Not datable under panel P7. That is what keeps the first-expiry-first-out inventory rule enforceable across the catalog: a product with no assignable date cannot enter inventory at all.