Evidence map›Paper›PMID 21501494›Full record

Trial reportBMC medicine2011

L-lysine as adjunctive treatment in patients with schizophrenia: a single-blinded, randomized, cross-over pilot study.

Caroline Wass, Daniel Klamer, Evangelos Katsarogiannis, Erik Pålsson, Lennart Svensson, Kim Fejgin, Inga-Britt Bogren, Jörgen A Engel, Birgitta Rembeck

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC medicine, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
10citing papers in PubMed
0.5field-weighted citation impact, top 36% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

10 citing papers in PubMed, 27 citations in OpenAlex.

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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Caroline WassSchizophrenia Program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada. caroline_wass@camh.net
Daniel Klamer
Evangelos Katsarogiannis
Erik Pålsson
Lennart Svensson
Kim Fejgin
Inga-Britt Bogren
Jörgen A Engel
Birgitta Rembeck
University of Gothenburg · SESahlgrenska University Hospital · SEUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccumulating evidence suggests that the brain's nitric oxide (NO) signalling system may be involved in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and could thus constitute a novel treatment target. The study was designed to investigate the benefit of L-lysine, an amino acid that interferes with NO production, as an add-on treatment for schizophrenia.

methodsL-lysine, 6 g/day, was administered to 10 patients with schizophrenia as an adjunctive to their conventional antipsychotic medication. The study was designed as a single-blinded, cross-over study where patients were randomly assigned to initial treatment with either L-lysine or placebo and screened at baseline, after four weeks when treatment was crossed over, and after eight weeks.

resultsL-lysine treatment caused a significant increase in blood concentration of L-lysine and was well tolerated. A significant decrease in positive symptom severity, measured by the Positive And Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), was detected. A certain decrease in score was also observed during placebo treatment and the effects on PANSS could not unequivocally be assigned to the L-lysine treatment. Furthermore, performance on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test was significantly improved compared to baseline, an effect probably biased by training. Subjective reports from three of the patients indicated decreased symptom severity and enhanced cognitive functioning.

conclusionsFour-week L-lysine treatment of 6 g/day caused a significant increase in blood concentration of L-lysine that was well tolerated. Patients showed a significant decrease in positive symptoms as assessed by PANSS in addition to self-reported symptom improvement by three patients. The NO-signalling pathway is an interesting, potentially new treatment target for schizophrenia; however, the effects of L-lysine need further evaluation to decide the amino acid's potentially beneficial effects on symptom severity in schizophrenia.

Indexed as

AdultAntipsychotic AgentsCross-Over StudiesDrug Therapy, CombinationFemaleHumansLysineMaleMiddle AgedPilot ProjectsPlacebosSchizophreniaTreatment OutcomeAntipsychotic AgentsLysinePlacebos

Identifiers

PMID21501494
PMCPMC3094237
OpenAlexW2143606210

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

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.