Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25697860›Full record

Trial reportPsychopharmacology2015

Effects of D-cycloserine on extinction of mesolimbic cue reactivity in alcoholism: a randomized placebo-controlled trial.

Falk Kiefer, Martina Kirsch, Patrick Bach, Sabine Hoffmann, Iris Reinhard, Anne Jorde, Christoph von der Goltz, Rainer Spanagel, Karl Mann, Sabine Loeber and 1 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
28citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
2.9field-weighted citation impact, top 9% 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

28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 66 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  8. Striatal reward sensitivity predicts therapy-related neural changes in alcohol addiction.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2018
    Trial
  9. Trial
  10. New Approaches to Addiction Treatment Based on Learning and Memory.Current topics in behavioral neurosciences · 2025
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
  16. FMRI-based prediction of naltrexone response in alcohol use disorder: a replication study.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2021
    Article
  17. BDNF influences neural cue-reactivity to food stimuli and food craving in obesity.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2021
    Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
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

11 authors at 5 institutions in 2 countries.

Falk KieferDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany.
Martina KirschDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany.
Patrick BachDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany.
Sabine HoffmannDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany.
Iris ReinhardDepartment of Biostatistics, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Anne JordeDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany.
Christoph von der GoltzDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany.
Rainer SpanagelInstitute of Psychopharmacology, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
Karl MannDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany.
Sabine LoeberDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
Sabine Vollstädt-KleinDepartment of Addictive Behavior and Addiction Medicine, Central Institute of Mental Health, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, Square J5, 68159, Heidelberg, Germany. s.vollstaedt-klein@zi-mannheim.de.
Heidelberg University · DECentral Institute of Mental Health · DEHeidelberg University · USUniversity Hospital Heidelberg · DEUniversity of Bamberg · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationaleMesocorticolimbic reactivity to alcohol-associated cues has been shown to be associated with relapse to renewed drinking and to be decreased by cue-exposure-based extinction training (CET). Evidence from preclinical studies suggests that the extinction of conditioned alcohol-seeking behavior might be facilitated by drugs increasing N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-associated memory consolidation.

objectivesIn this study, we assessed the efficacy of CET treatment supplemented with the partial NMDA-receptor agonist D-cycloserine (DCS) at reducing mesolimbic cue reactivity (CR), craving, and relapse risk in alcoholism.

methodsIn a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, we recruited 76 recently detoxified abstinent alcohol-dependent patients. Thirty-two (16 DCS, 16 placebo) patients showed cue-induced ventral-striatal activation measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) prior to treatment and were thus included in the efficacy analyses. After inpatient detoxification, patients underwent nine sessions of CET spaced over 3 weeks, receiving either 50 mg DCS or placebo 1 h prior to each CET session. FMRI was conducted before treatment and 3 weeks after treatment onset.

resultsFollowing treatment with CET plus DCS, cue-induced brain activation in the ventral and dorsal striatum was decreased compared to treatment with CET plus placebo. Elevated posttreatment ventral striatal CR and increased craving (assessed using the Obsessive Compulsive Drinking Scale) were associated with increased relapse risk.

conclusionsDCS was shown to augment the effect of CET for alcohol-dependent subjects. The interaction between craving and ventral-striatal CR on treatment outcome suggests that CET might be especially effective in patients exhibiting both high craving and elevated CR.

Indexed as

CuesTemperanceAdultAlcohol DrinkingAlcoholismBrainCycloserineDouble-Blind MethodExtinction, PsychologicalFemaleHumansLimbic SystemMagnetic Resonance ImagingMaleMiddle AgedTreatment OutcomeCycloserineAddictionAlcoholismCue-exposure-based extinctionCue reactivityD-CycloserinefMRI

Identifiers

PMID25697860
OpenAlexW2011019336

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

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.