PEPA, which is short for 4-[2-(Phenylsulphonylamino)ethylthio]-2,6-difluorophenoxyacetamide, is an investigational new medicine being studied for its potential as treatment for neurological and psychological disorders. It is a sulfonylamino compound that is classified as an ampakine based on its mechanism of action. PEPA induces positive improvements to the cognitive processes of the brain by modulating the AMPA glutamate receptors of the brain. Some ampakines have also been observed to have the ability to increase the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is believed to contribute to the cognitive enhancing abilities of the compound.
Ampakines are known to improve memory, learning abilities, and attention span. PEPA, like most other investigational ampakines, may possibly be used to cure or at least manage neurodegenerative and psychological conditions such as Alzeimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), treatment resistant depression (TRD), and schizophrenia.
Most ampakines are always quoted to be much more potent than piracetam when it comes to cognitive enhancing properties. Other ampakines like Sunifiram and Unifiram are even claimed to be having as much as 1,000 times more powerful than piracetam. This claim apparently caught the interest of the United States Defense Advanced Research Programs Agency (DARPA) enough to fund studies on ampakines for possible military applications.
Base on initial studies, PEPA is estimated to be 100 times more powerful than piracetam, which may or may not be an advantage. It studies conducted on laboratory animals, PEPA was observed to have the ability of increasing spatial and working memory of the mice, as well as improve their learning abilities.
There is very little data as far as the nootropic properties of PEPA are concerned. The information currently available that concerns its cognitive enhancing abilities can only gleaned from small scale animal studies. In spite of this however, the studies did lend support the supposition that PEPA, as an ampakine, can also help enhance the cognitive function of the brain. It may be a bit weaker than Sunifiram or Unifiram, but the weakness may actually prove to be its strength.
The ampakine Sunifiram is famous for being exponentially more potent than piracetam. More recently though, some nootropic users have observed and experienced that while Sunifiram was a very powerful cognitive enhancer during the initial stages of their supplementation, their body gradually developed a tolerance for it and it came with very unpleasant side-effects. This is often blamed on the potency of Sunifiram and that the side effects become more pronounced once the body develops a tolerance for it. Having a relatively much lower potency than powerful ampakines, PEPA just might be able to lessen if not eliminate altogether, the problems associated with powerful cognitive enhancers.
It must be noted that although PEPA have produce a few positive results from early tests on animal subjects, it is too early to call it a miracle cognitive enhancer or a breakthrough nootropic. There is a good amount of history with very promising ampakines that later turned out to be duds once the human testing phase has concluded. While some enterprising nootropic users can always go out of his way and synthesize a batch of PEPA to try out, it will be wise to wait a little bit longer until more information about the compound has become available.
PROS
- Early studies show that it has cognitive enhancing effects.
- It is estimated to be 100 times more potent than piracetam.
- The doses are smaller.
- It may have some important medical applications in the future.
CONS
- There is very little data available on the compound.
- There is hardly any of it available to try.
- It will be expensive to have a batch synthesized.
No studies on human tests on PEPA are available as of this writing, nor is there any indication that human trials are already underway. Until such time when more studies on PEPA will be published, it is essentially just an obscure compound that nootropic freaks can only fantasize about.
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