Temgicoluril (Mebikar®): relevance and prospects (on the 90th anniversary of Professor Irina Zimakova)

This review commemorates Irina Zimakova, Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor, who dedicated her life to the development, implementation, and extensive clinical study of a fundamentally new, original Russian drug product — temgicoluril — best known under its first trade name, Mebikar^®. The paper reviews publications on the use of the drug product for various medical conditions and substantiates its possible use as a tranquilizer with adaptogenic, nootropic, antidepressant, antioxidant, and hypolipidemic effects without pronounced side effects and behavioral toxicity and with a positive performance effect. The review includes 50 papers in Russian and English published between 1978 and 2025 and found in Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Google Scholar databases and open sources using scientific search engines and databases, including Google Scholar (Google Academy), CyberLeninka, Mediasphere, and eLibrary.Ru. Most studies were conducted in the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, and Ukraine. The studies showed that temgicoluril had an anti-anxiety effect in various medical conditions, improved blood supply and reduced hypoxia in the heart muscle, had an anti-anginal effect, increased the brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the blood serum in traumatic brain injuries, and reduced hyperactivity and impulsiveness in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder without significant changes in attention and psychomotor ability. In addition, temgicoluril has been shown to have hypolipidemic and nootropic effects. Well-controlled clinical studies involving large patient samples are required to verify previous findings, to study more fully its efficacy and safety, and to understand better its pharmacological profile.