Sarcosine (N-Methylglycine) Monotherapy for Schizophrenia

May 18, 2006 updated by: China Medical University Hospital

NMDA Enhancers in the Treatment of Schizophrenia

The etiology of schizophrenia remains unclear. Schizophrenia patients reveal positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and cognitive impairments. In addition to dopamine system hyperactivity, hypofunction of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor plays a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia. Consequently, enhancing NMDA receptor neurotransmission has been considered as a novel treatment approach. To date, there have been several trials on NMDA enhancers reported. For example, sarcosine (N-methylglycine, a glycine transporter I inhibitor) showed therapeutic effects not only in chronically stable patients but also in acutely exacerbated ones when added-on to antipsychotics. In addition, sarcosine yields excellent safety profiles, in comparison to current antipsychotics.

It remains unclear whether NMDA enhancers, such as sarcosine, can serve as monotherapy for schizophrenia. The aims of this project are to examine the efficacy and safety of sarcosine monotherapy for acutely-ill schizophrenic patients, and to compare the effects of 2 grams/day, effective dose, with 1 gram/day, ineffective lower dose.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

In the study, 20 schizophrenic patients are recruited into the 6-week trial and randomly assigned into the two groups (1 g/d and 2 g/d) with a double-blind manner. Clinical manifestation (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale; Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms), side effects and quality of life are evaluated every two weeks during the trial. The efficacies of two groups are compared, and the characteristics of better responders are analyzed.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

20

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Locations

      • Taichung, Taiwan, 404
        • Department of Psychiatry, China Medical University Hospital

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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Fulfill the criteria of schizophrenia according to the Diagnostic and Statistic Manual, fourth edition (DSM-IV).
  • Free from antipsychotics for at least 7 days before enrollment.
  • Agree to participate in the study and provide informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Meet DSM-IV criteria of major mood disorder, current substance dependence or mental retardation
  • History of epilepsy, head trauma or CNS diseases
  • Major, untreated medical diseases
  • Pregnancy or lactation
  • Receiving psychotropic agents or depot within three months prior to study entry

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: Double

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Hsien-yuan Lane, MD,PhD, Dept. of Psychiatry, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
  • Study Director: Guochuan E. Tsai, MD,PhD, Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

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

December 1, 2004

Study Completion

December 1, 2005

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 18, 2006

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 18, 2006

First Posted (Estimate)

May 19, 2006

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 19, 2006

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 18, 2006

Last Verified

May 1, 2006

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • DMR93-IRB-119
  • NHRI-EX-94-9405PI

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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