The Safety and Effectiveness of dTMS for Reducing Antipsychotic-induced Weight Gain (dTMS)

September 1, 2026 updated by: Ping Shao, Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University

The Effects of Improving Antipsychotic-induced Weight Gain by Accelerated dTMS After Food Cue-induced Craving, A Double-Blind, Randomized, Sham-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Antipsychotic-induced metabolic disturbances, especially weight gain, are common in patients with schizophrenia. There are no hitherto effective treatments for reducing antipsychotic-induced weight gain. Recently, research suggest that Accelerated dTMS (a-dTMS) which deliver more than one daily TMS session indicates greater efficacy than other TMS treatment. Symptom provocation is believed to improve the clinical responses to TMS. In this study, the investigators, firstly, evaluate the safety and effectiveness of a-dTMS for reducing antipsychotic-induced weight gain and secondly, to establish a predictive model of therapeutic response and to explore the underlying mechanisms of dTMS for reducing antipsychotic-induced weight gain, based on multimodal radiomics and metabolomics approaches.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The underlying causes of antipsychotic-induced weight gain are still unknown. Some research point out that it has something to do with metabolic disturbances and changes in appetite and food intake, acting food-craving-like behave which some points are similar to addiction. With fMRI study, it is reported having dysfunction between prefrontal and insula cortex of its cognitive regulation, interoceptive signals and reward control. dTMS, H coil in particular, simultaneously targets prefrontal and insula cortex, approved by FDA for Smoking Addiction recently. Previous study has been deconstrued that H coil could significantly improve weight gain than figure-eight Coils. Moreover, It is reckoned that TMS has state-dependent effects on brain circuitry, suspected that symptom provocation may be made it more susceptible to modulation which may improve response. Therefore, this study is to explore the efficacy of a-dTMS on antipsychotic-induced appetite, and use multimodal radiomics and metabolomics approaches to unveil the underlying mechanisms of dTMS for reducing antipsychotic-induced weight gain.

With regard to investigate this, we will be carried out a randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial. 60 Patients with schizophrenia will be randomly treated with active a-dTMS or sham condition for 3 sections' interventions per day last for 10 days. The follow-ups are at baseline, the 12th day and the 42th day after the end of treatment. The main outcome measures include the change in body weight, BMI, TFEQ score, FCQ-S score, FCQ-T score and the resting and task-state EEG-fMRI imaging data.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
60

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • China
    • Hunan
      • Changsha, Hunan, China, 410011
        • The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Aged between 18-60.
  • Meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia, confirmed by the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5).
  • Gaining body weight around 7% after intaking antipsychotics within 2 years.
  • Participants were on a stable medication regimen at the time of enrollment. ●Written informed consent was obtained from both the participants and their legally authorized guardians.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Participants who switch antipsychotic drugs (APDs) or require a dose modification exceeding 25% of the baseline dosage during the study period.
  • Diagnosed with other mental diseases in accordance with DSM-V.
  • Comorbid with other severe physiological diseases.
  • Active suicidal ideation.
  • A history of alcohol or substance use disorder (or abuse).
  • Presence of metal implants or any other conditions contraindicated for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
  • Presence of intracranial metal or electronic devices, a personal or family history of epilepsy, or any other standard contraindications to deep transcranial magnetic stimulation.
  • Receipt of regular transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), or weight-loss interventions within the past month.
  • Pregnant or lactating women

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: a-dTMS stimulation
The patients in a-dTMS stimulation group will receive accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation (ACC-iTBS) stimulation for 10 consecutive days and 3 times per day. There will have at least 50 minutes interval between each intervention. Participants will be undertaking symptom provocation named food cue induced craving before each stimulation.
Device: dTMS of accelerated intermittent theta burst stimulation, ACC-iTBS
The intensity of the stimulator is set at 80% of resting motor threshold (RMT), and the other parameters are set to triplet 50Hz bursts, repeat at 5Hz, 2s seconds on and 8 seconds off, 1800 pulses per session, total duration of 9 minutes and 52 seconds.
Sham Comparator: Sham stimulation
The participants in sham stimulation will receive sham coil stimulation for 10 consecutive days and 3 times per day. There will have at least 50 minutes interval between each intervention. Participants will be undertaking symptom provocation named food cue induced craving before each stimulation.
Device: Sham stimulation
The same procedure will be performed in sham coil induced acoustic and scalp sensations similar to those induced by the active coil, but without electromagnetic penetration into the brain and without neural activation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in BMI
Time Frame: Change in BMI between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Unit of measure: BMI in kg/m^2 (weight in kilograms, height in meters)
Change in BMI between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in body weight
Time Frame: Change in body weight between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in body weight (kg) from baseline to Day 12 (end of treatment) and to Day 42 (follow-up), to evaluate the effectiveness of dTMS in reducing antipsychotic-induced weight gain.
Change in body weight between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Three Factor Eating Questionnaire (TFEQ)
Time Frame: Change in TFEQ between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
The Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T) is a self-reported measures which is a 39-item questionnaire that has nine subscales: intentions and plans to consume food, outcome expectancy of positive reinforcement, outcome expectancy of relief from negative states, anticipated lack of overeating control, preoccupation with food, physiological deficits and responses which may elicit craving, emotions experienced during food craving, external and internal cues that trigger cravings, and guilt.
Change in TFEQ between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T)
Time Frame: Change in FCQ-T between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
The change of food craving will be evaluated by Food Cravings Questionnaire-Trait (FCQ-T), a self-report multidimensional questionnaire composed of 39 items aimed to investigate food addiction and eating disorders. Total FCQ-T score will be used as a general measure of trait craving; individual FCQ-T scores related to the 9 measured craving dimensions could be useful in identifying and differentiating craving profiles between specific populations.
Change in FCQ-T between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in Food Craving Questionnaire State (FCQ-S)
Time Frame: Change in FCQ-S between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
The Food Craving Questionnaire-State (FCQ-S) is a 15-item self-report measure to assess momentary, state-dependent food craving. The instrument consists of five multidimensional subscales: (1) intense desire to eat, (2) anticipation of positive reinforcement from eating, (3) anticipation of relief from negative states and feelings as a result of eating, (4) lack of control over eating, and (5) craving as a physiological state. Respondents rate each item on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 ("strongly disagree") to 5 ("strongly agree"). Total scores are calculated by summing all 15 item responses, yielding a possible range of 15 to 75. Higher total scores indicate more intense current state food cravings.
Change in FCQ-S between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change of Visual Analogue Scale, VAS
Time Frame: Change in VAS between each food cue induced craving and food cue reactivity before and after
The VAS is a simple, quick-to-administer, and sensitive instrument for detecting acute fluctuations in food craving, hunger, and related motivational states in response to food cue exposure. In the context of food cue reactivity, the VAS is administered immediately before and after presentation of food stimuli (e.g., pictorial food cues, actual food exposure, or virtual reality food environments) to capture acute changes in craving, hunger, appetite, and related motivational states. The VAS consists of a 100-mm horizontal line anchored at each end by verbal descriptors representing the extremes of the construct being measured, typically ranging from 0 ("not at all" or "no desire at all") to 100 ("extremely" or "very strong desire").The score is determined by measuring the distance in millimeters from the left anchor to the respondent's mark, yielding a possible range of 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating greater intensity of the measured construct.
Change in VAS between each food cue induced craving and food cue reactivity before and after
Change in parameters of the Stop Signal Task, SST
Time Frame: Change in parameters of SST between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
The SST aims to access cognitive behavioral inhibition control. The study employed a task that comprised randomly interleaved NoGo and Stop-Signal trials to examine both types of inhibition. The study measured six behavioral parameters of interest: namely Mean Go reaction time (GoRT), Stop-Signal mean reaction time (SSRT), Stop-Signal delay (SSD), Target accuracy, Go trial accuracy, and NoGo Accuracy. The primary outcome measure derived from the SST is the stop-signal reaction time (SSRT) , which is an estimated measure of the speed of the inhibitory process. The SSRT is calculated by subtracting the mean or median stop-signal delay (SSD) from the mean or median reaction time on go trials. Higher SSRT values indicate longer inhibition latency and thus poorer inhibitory control, whereas lower SSRT values indicate faster inhibition and better inhibitory control.
Change in parameters of SST between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in parameters of the Go/No-Go Task (GNG)
Time Frame: Change in parameters of GNG between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
The Go/No-Go Task (GNG) is a computerized behavioral paradigm that measures response inhibition-specifically, the ability to withhold a prepotent motor response to a frequently occurring stimulus when an infrequent, conflicting stimulus occurs.The GNG task comprises two types of trials presented in random order: Go trials (typically 70-80% of all trials) and No-Go trials (typically 20-30% of all trials).The most critical outcome derived from the GNG task is the No-Go error rate, calculated as the number of incorrect responses on No-Go trials divided by the total number of No-Go trials. Higher No-Go error rates indicate poorer inhibitory control.
Change in parameters of GNG between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in Blood laboratory parameters
Time Frame: Change in Blood laboratory parameters between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
About 20ml blood samples were collected intravenously to test blood routine, liver and kidney function, electrolytes and other routine tests. Changes in lipid metabolism will be evaluated by Cholesterol (mg/dL), Triglycerides (mg/dL), High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (mg/dL), Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol (mg/dL), Fasting Blood Glucose (mmol/L).
Change in Blood laboratory parameters between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in correlation of fMRI and EEG functional connectivity
Time Frame: Change in correlation of fMRI and EEG functional connectivity between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Examines how brain connectivity patterns measured by fMRI (blood-flow activity) relate to connectivity patterns measured by EEG (electrical activity).
Change in correlation of fMRI and EEG functional connectivity between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
Change in abdominal and hip circumference
Time Frame: Change in abdominal and hip circumference between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)
The Change in abdominal and hip circumference absolute values (cm) will be measured at baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42) to evaluate weight-related treatment responses of dTMS.
Change in abdominal and hip circumference between baseline and the end of the treatment (day 12) and follow-up (day 42)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
May 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
August 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 31, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
September 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
September 1, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • LYEC2026-0195-Study B
  • 82571770 (Other Grant/Funding Number: National Natural Science Foundation of China)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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