Effect of N-acetylcysteine as Add on Therapy With SSRI in Moderate to Severe OCD Patients

November 14, 2021 updated by: Sadia Binte Anwar Sonia, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Effect of N-acetylcysteine as Add on Therapy With Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in Moderate to Severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Patients

Title:

Effect of n-acetylcysteine as add-on therapy with Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors in moderate to severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder patients.

Purpose of the study:

To assess the effects of the addition of n-acetylcysteine with SSRIs on the severity of symptoms in obsessive-compulsive disorder patients.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is the fourth most common mental disorder in Bangladesh and around the world. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly administered drugs for treating children and adolescents with OCD. The treatment of this condition has remained unsatisfactory, only 40-60% of patients with OCD respond to SSRIs, and about 40 to 60% of patients with OCD do not completely respond to this drug. Researchers throughout the world are involved to obtain new pharmacotherapy for the treatment of OCD. A good number of evidences have proved that glutamate plays a significant role in the pathophysiology of OCD.N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an amino acid derivative, is a health supplement, and has neuroprotective effects that target the glutamatergic system. Some recent trials attempted to assess the effect of n-acetylcysteine as an add-on therapy with SSRIs to improve symptoms in OCD patients. Aim: This proposed study is therefore an effort whether there is any role of n-acetylcysteine adjuncts with SSRI produce better improvement than SSRI alone in OCD patients. Method: This study will be a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicenter trial that will be conducted in the department of pharmacology, BSMMU in collaboration with the department of psychiatry, BSMMU, and Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka from the day of approval by the IRB to January 2022. A total of 56 patients suffering from OCD will be selected according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The diagnosis of patients suffering from OCD and the selection of drug and dosage would be performed by a senior professor of the psychiatry department. After completing the necessary formalities including informed consent of the patients, the patient would undergo a selected questionnaire Yale-Brown Obsessive Scale (Y-BOCS-10) to assess the severity of the disease. The patients would be randomly allocated into two arms: control and intervention. Patients in the intervention arm would consist of 30 patients who will receive SSRIs plus NAC. NAC was titrated from 600mg/day and doubling weekly to reach a maximum dose of 2400mg/day (at week-3) for the remaining 7 weeks. On the other hand, the control arm would consist of 30 patients who will receive SSRIs plus a placebo for 10 weeks. The severity of symptoms will be assessed after 4 weeks and 10 weeks follow-up. The brain glutamate level, ALT, AST, serum creatinine, and ECG will be measured at baseline and after 10 weeks. The regularity of medicine intake will be ensured over the telephone, pill count, and from the patient's compliance sheet. Statistical analysis will be obtained by SPSS (statistical package for social science) version 24. Paire't' test will be done to compare between two means of before and after the intervention. Proportion test 'Z' will be done to compare the proportion between the intervention group and the placebo group. The calculated 'p' value may suggest the level of significance (significant at p<0.05). Ethical consideration: After approval from IRB every eligible patient will be informed about the intervention and the study objectives. Patients will also be informed that they can participate or to withdraw at any time without compromising their medical care. Patient confidentiality will be strictly maintained. Patient's personal data regarding the name, age, sex, and other information will not be disclosed anywhere and will be used only for research purposes.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

60

Phase

  • 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 Backup

Study Locations

  • Bangladesh
      • Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1000
      • Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1000
        • Recruiting
        • Sadia Binte Anwar Sonia
        • Contact:
        • 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

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Newly diagnosed OCD patients diagnosed by Psychiatric Consultant of the Department of Psychiatry according to DSM-5 criteria (Appendix VI).
  • Moderate to severe OCD patients having AY-BOCS score > 16
  • Age: 18 years or above
  • Sex: Both male and female

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients receiving antidepressant within last two months.

  • Patients having any history of psychiatric and medical conditions will be excluded from the study.
  • Patients having suicidal thoughts.
  • Pregnancy and lactation.
  • Patients who are receiving psychotherapy.

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Experimental
This arm includes 30 OCD patients receiving SSRIs
Drug: N-acetylcysteine tablet 600mg
N-acetylcysteine tablet 600mg/day and doubling weekly to reach a maximum dose of 2400mg/day (at week-3) for remaining 7 weeks along with SSRIs
Placebo Comparator: Control
This arm includes 30 OCD patients receiving SSRIs
Drug: Placebo tablet 600mg
Placebo tablet 600mg/day and doubling weekly to reach a maximum dose of 2400mg/day (at week-3) for remaining 7 weeks along with SSRIs

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
OCD severity score assessment
Time Frame: 10 weeks

Assess the severity score of OCD symptoms by YBOCS-10 at baseline, after 4 weeks, and after10 weeks.

And compare the score between two groups. YBOCS-10 range from 0-40 with the following scores: 0-14 Non significant to mild, 15-23 Mild to moderate, 23-29 Moderate to severe, 30-40 Severe to disabling.
10 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Neurochemical assessment
Time Frame: 10 weeks
To estimate the brain glutamate level by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) at baseline and after 10 weeks supplementation of n-acetylcysteine and SSRI. To compare the brain glutamate level by Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS) at baseline and after 10 weeks supplementation of n-acetylcysteine and SSRI.
10 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Investigators

  • Study Chair: Prof Md. Sayedur Rahman, MBBS, M.Phil, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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 (Actual)

March 13, 2020

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

January 10, 2022

Study Completion (Anticipated)

January 10, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 23, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 23, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

May 27, 2021

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

November 16, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 14, 2021

Last Verified

November 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • BSMMU/2021/2300

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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