Sarcosine or D-serine add-on treatment for acute exacerbation of schizophrenia: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.
Arch Gen Psychiatry
; 62(11): 1196-204, 2005 Nov.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16275807
ABSTRACT
CONTEXT Agents that enhance N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) function through the glycine modulatory site (D-serine, glycine, or D-cycloserine) or through glycine transporter 1 (sarcosine) improve the symptoms of patients with stable chronic schizophrenia. OBJECTIVE:
To determine whether NMDA-glycine site agonists or glycine transporter-1 inhibitors have better efficacy and whether NMDA receptor-enhancing agents have beneficial effects for acute exacerbation of schizophrenia.DESIGN:
Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.SETTING:
Inpatient units of 2 major medical centers in Taiwan. Patients Sixty-five schizophrenic inpatients with acute exacerbation.INTERVENTIONS:
Six weeks of treatment with sarcosine (2 g/d), D-serine (2 g/d), or placebo and concomitant optimal risperidone therapy. MAIN OUTCOMEMEASURES:
Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) and Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms (SANS) (20 and 17 items) total scores.RESULTS:
The sarcosine group revealed more reductions in PANSS total scores than the placebo (P = .04) and D-serine (P<.001) groups. Sarcosine adjunctive treatment was also superior to placebo in reducing SANS-20 (P = .007) and SANS-17 (P = .003) scores and to D-serine in decreasing SANS-20 (P = .006) and SANS-17 (P = .002) scores. The PANSS-general, PANSS-cognitive, and PANSS-depressive symptoms scores and SANS-alogia and SANS-blunted affect scores improved significantly more in sarcosine-cotreated patients than in risperidone monotherapy patients (P< or =.02 for all). Sarcosine adjunctive therapy also surpassed D-serine in terms of PANSS-general, PANSS-positive, PANSS-negative, and PANSS-depressive symptoms scores (P< or =.04 for all). D-serine and risperidone cotreatment did not differ significantly from risperidone monotherapy in all efficacy domains.CONCLUSIONS:
This first short-term treatment study on NMDA receptor-enhancing agents suggests that sarcosine, superior to D-serine, can benefit not only patients with long-term stable disease but also acutely ill persons with schizophrenia. This finding indicates that a glycine transporter 1 inhibitor may be more efficacious than NMDA-glycine site agonists for adjuvant treatment of schizophrenia, at least during the acute phase. Further studies are needed.
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Bases de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Sarcosina
/
Esquizofrenia
/
Serina
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Arch Gen Psychiatry
Año:
2005
Tipo del documento:
Article
País de afiliación:
Taiwán