Actovegin is a biological drug produced from deproteinised hemodialysate of calf serum
with over 50 years of history for its clinical use. There have been many in vitro studies to
speculate its potential role and mechanism of action in cells; due to the nature of this drug
and serum based culture techniques for most in vitro experiments, presumptuous
conclusions and claims from these studies on performance enhancement should be
cautiously interpreted. There have been well-designed human in vivo studies suggesting it
does not enhance human performance, and has potentially good clinical applications to
treat injuries, strokes and diabetes. Recently, evidence has emerged suggesting Actovegin
has anti-inflammatory and anti apoptotic effects on injured tissues; further clinical research
is needed to define these effects. This article also provides a narrative review of Actovegin
summarizing outcomes from recent publications
