SynthesisThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews2002
D-cycloserine for Alzheimer's disease.
Synthesis in The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 2002. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 70 citations in OpenAlex.
- D-Cycloserine in Neuropsychiatric Diseases: A Systematic Review.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2016Pooled it
- Augmentation of cognitive and behavioural therapies (CBT) with d-cycloserine for anxiety and related disorders.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- D-cycloserine for Alzheimer's disease.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2002Pooled it
- Brain Activity of Benzoate, a D-Amino Acid Oxidase Inhibitor, in Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment in a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo Controlled Clinical Trial.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2021Trial
- The role of microbiota modulation in preventing Alzheimer's disease- a review.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Available Treatments for Autism Spectrum Disorder: From Old Strategies to New Options.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Design of (Journal of medicinal chemistry · 2025Article
- D-Cycloserine enhances the bidirectional range of NMDAR-dependent hippocampal synaptic plasticity.Translational psychiatry · 2024Article
- Establishment of a consensus protocol to explore the brain pathobiome in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: Research outline and call for collaboration.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023Review
- Clinical evidence of human pathogens implicated in Alzheimer's disease pathology and the therapeutic efficacy of antimicrobials: an overview.Translational neurodegeneration · 2023Review
- Neurodegenerative Microbially-Shaped Diseases: Oxidative Stress Meets Neuroinflammation.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- The Effect of Long-Term or Repeated Use of Antibiotics in Children and Adolescents on Cognitive Impairment in Middle-Aged and Older Person(s) Adults: A Cohort Study.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2022Article
- Involvement of Cholinergic, Adrenergic, and Glutamatergic Network Modulation with Cognitive Dysfunction in Alzheimer's Disease.International journal of molecular sciences · 2021Review
- Fecal Microbiota Transplantation in Neurological Disorders.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2020Review
- Antibiotics, gut microbiota, and Alzheimer's disease.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2019Review
- NYX-2925 Is a Novel NMDA Receptor-Specific Spirocyclic-β-Lactam That Modulates Synaptic Plasticity Processes Associated with Learning and Memory.The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2018Article
- The Efficacy of Augment of D-Cycloserine and Cognitive-behavioral Therapy on Adolescent with one Type of Anxiety Disorders: A Double-blind Randomized Controlled Trial.Advanced biomedical research · 2017Article
- Neuroinflammation-Induced Memory Deficits Are Amenable to Treatment with D-Cycloserine.Journal of molecular neuroscience : MN · 2016Article
- D-cycloserine for treatment of numbing and avoidance in chronic post traumatic stress disorder: A randomized, double blind, clinical trial.Journal of research in medical sciences : the official journal of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences · 2014Article
- Clinical trials and late-stage drug development for Alzheimer's disease: an appraisal from 1984 to 2014.Journal of internal medicine · 2014Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEvidence supports a role for the NMDA receptors in learning and memory. These can be modulated by the antibiotic D-cycloserine in such a way that the effect of the excitatory transmitter substance glutamate is enhanced. A study on healthy subjects pretreated with scopolamine to mimic Alzheimer's disease showed a positive effect of D-cycloserine at low doses.
objectivesTo assess the efficacy and safety of D-cycloserine in patients with Alzheimer's disease. SEARCH STRATEGY: The trials were identified from a search of the Specialized Register of the Cochrane Dementia and Cognitive Improvement Group on 14 June 2001 using the terms: cycloserine, D-cycloserine, Alzheimer*. SELECTION CRITERIA: Randomized, double-blinded and unconfounded trials comparing D-cycloserine with a control treatment. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Two larger and two smaller randomized controlled trials were identified. The clinical global impression scale was used in all studies and was a primary outcome measure. MAIN
resultsIt was not possible to extract the results from the first phases of the two crossover studies and therefore the meta-analyses are based on the two parallel group 6-month studies. There was no indication of a positive effect favouring D-cycloserine for the numbers showing improvement at 6 months as assessed by the Clinical Global Impression for any dose. The number of withdrawals for any reason before end of treatment at 6 months was significantly in favour of placebo (fewer withdrawals) compared with D-cycloserine for dose levels of 30 mg/day (OR 2.94, 95% CI 1.52, 5.70) and 100 mg/day (OR 3.23, 95% CI 1.67, 6.25). There was no significant difference between treatment, (2, 10, 30, 100, or 200 mg/day) and placebo for the number of withdrawals due to adverse events by six months. REVIEWER'S
conclusionsThe lack of a positive effect of D-cycloserine on cognitive outcomes in controlled clinical trials with statistical power high enough to detect a clinically meaningful effect means that D-cycloserine has no place in the treatment of patients with Alzheimer's disease.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.