PRL 8-53 and PRL 8-147: The Mystery
PRL 8-53 can be traced back to one individual, Dr. Nikolaus Hansl of Creighton University. He discovered and patented the compound in the 1970s. A single study in humans was reported in 1978. The double-blind trial of PRL-8-53 in 47 healthy volunteers measured its effects on a variety of cognitive measures. 5 mg of the drug was administered orally 2–2.5 hours before the study tasks.Overall improvements in recollection differed based on how many words were recalled under placebo, with the poor performers (six words or fewer) experiencing a 87.5-105% increase in recollection and the high performers (eight or more words) a 7.9-14% increase which failed to reach statistical significance; when controlling for subjects over the age of 30 only, a 108-152% increase was noted. No side effects were reported during the trial.
This makes PRL 8-53 a fantastic nootropic for students or anyone else going through a learning process. It’s shown even more improvements in individuals with existing memory conditions or who may have had a below average memory to begin with. Other, less official sources report that PRL 8-53 can provide relief for victims of amnesia in a single dose.
The Mysterious PRL 8-147
Dr. Hansl reportedly synthesized a more potent version of PRL 8-53 called PRL 8-147. Online, this compound has achieved near-mythical status due to the lack of available information. This is where PRL 8-147 turns into more of a mystery novel than science report.
When Dr. Hansl died, the patents for his compounds and all of his research documents were left to his family, not a company, research facility, or school. With that in mind, a group of users on Reddit reached out to Dr. Hansl’s family to find out more about either of the compounds. They discovered that in addition to having a personal stash of PRL 8-147, Dr. Hansl’s daughter has a garage full of research and documentation.
PRL-8-147It’s believed that the keys to the PRL 8-147 mystery lie somewhere in her garage and, when uncovered, she would love to see her father’s discovery released to the public. After identifying the chemical structure of PRL 8-147, it’s likely some tests will be performed to create the correct compound and before long it will be available on the market.
So, if these are so great, why haven’t they been available before? It comes down to funding. When Dr. Hansl discovered the substances, he was unable to receive enough funding to perform proper large-scale tests and ultimately bring it to market. The initial holdup was most likely because it wasn’t a drug that set out to cure a particular disease or ailment.
New Insight from Researcher
An individual reached out to Nootropics Hacks with hands-on inight behind these two nootropics. Here is what he had to say:
I was the person responsible for establishing the “rat study” with Dr. Hansl, at the University of Colorado, in Boulder, in the 1980′s. When I first mentioned to Nick that the initial test results were negative, his response was, “they didn’t treat the animals’ right!” In my opinion, the proper handling of test animals while conducting drug trials should be done with a sense of care. Particularly, where there is the need to assess accurately learning performance in their test subjects (that goes for animals and people as well). A researcher’s behavior should not be perceived as separate, from the whole process of the drug trial in animal studies, which includes injecting the test animal with a drug. The questionable handling of a test animal during a drug trial could indeed, affect the animal’s performance. When the final test results were presented to our group, the comment was made that “it doesn’t work” which was then followed with the remark, that it had “novel” results…perhaps, this could be interpreted as demonstrating, interestingly new or unusual results different from what was normally expected. In addition, as a matter of record, there were a number of studies conducted with the title compound PRL 8-147, in the late 1990’s, before the test at the University of Colorado in Boulder, were carried out:
Pharmacological Toxicological Characteristics of PRL-8-147, A New Psychotropic Agent.
Nikolaus R. Hansl, Creigton University, Omaha, Nebraska 68178
The title compound has recently attracted interest because it appears to improve performance based on intellectual capabilities. Acute and sub-acute toxicity studies reveal an LD50 of 171 mg/kg i.p. No significant signs of local irritation in the rabbit eye test were observed. Pyramiding doses of up to 320 mg/kg in the dog were well tolerated. No changes of the CBC or of the blood chemistry were found. The compound slightly depresses motor activity and partially reverses reserpine induced symptoms. Interaction with autonomic agonists in the isolated rabbit ileum and the anesthetized dog reveal an unusual spectrum of activity. A synergistic effect with acetylcholine, nor-epinephrine, dopamine, and isproterenol has been demonstrated. Effects of serotonin appear inhibited.
Furthermore, similar test were conducted on the title compound PRL-8-147 in mice, and in trials with other drugs…such as Amphetamine. I have included the above reference for those who believe, that PRL 8-147 was non-existent.While it is impossible to verify the truth behind these claims, it is certainly fascinating information to have.
Selected Community Experiences report anecdotal evidence that memories formed while on PRL 8-53 are clear, vivid, and have tremendous staying power.
“I started out with small doses and worked my way up to larger quantities. I definitely feel that 10mg is a great everyday dose and it didn’t seem like taking 15mg was a big improvement over the 10. However, I decided to try 20mg on Friday for my Neuroscience test and was amazed by the enhancement in recall I had. Up to that point I had not really felt too big improvement in memory or recall, but after that test I knew that it was working. For me I felt that the larger doses definitely helped on recall and was a huge help for tests. Also it seems that it is best taken 30 minutes before whatever you need it for Overall I definitely saw results and had no issues with with other nootropics that I take regularly.” [6] – baliflipper
“I’ve tried a variety of dosages of PRL-8-53, the so called ‘hypermnesic’ varying from 5mg to 40mg orally, and 5-20mg sublingually. This is over the course of 2 months, and there seems to be no effect. I don’t know if this is just my response and that it doesn’t work for me, but there is no noticeable difference in my memory/cognition when testing with the Cambridge Brain Sciences website, as well as the Dual-n-back game.” [7] – m4nce