Trial reportThe Journal of clinical psychiatry2015
D-Cycloserine facilitation of exposure therapy improves weight regain in patients with anorexia nervosa: a pilot randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01996644 (A Double Blind Clinical Trial of DCS for Food Anxiety for Patients With Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa), which is not on this map. Cited by 20 papers.
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.
A Double Blind Clinical Trial of DCS for Food Anxiety for Patients With Anorexia and Bulimia Nervosa
Who cites it
20 citing papers in PubMed, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Approved and Pipeline Pharmacological Interventions for Eating Disorders (2010-2025): 15 Years of Progress (or Lack Thereof).CNS drugs · 2026Review
- Pharmacotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of anorexia nervosa - novel targets to break a vicious cycle.Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy · 2024Review
- Anxiety matters: a pilot lab study into food, weight, and virtual body exposure in anorexia nervosa.Journal of eating disorders · 2024Article
- Psychotherapies for eating disorders: findings from a rapid review.Journal of eating disorders · 2023Review
- Food Restriction in Anorexia Nervosa in the Light of Modern Learning Theory: A Narrative Review.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- The Role of Associative Learning in Current Paradigm Shifts in Eating Disorder Research and Clinical Practice.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Promising role of D-amino acids in irritable bowel syndrome.World journal of gastroenterology · 2022Article
- Reply to Skokou, M. Comment on "Keeler et al. Ketamine as a Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2022Review
- Associations between mealtime anxiety and food intake in anorexia nervosa.The International journal of eating disorders · 2021Article
- Metabolomics signatures of acutely ill and short-term weight recovered women with anorexia nervosa.Molecular psychiatry · 2021Article
- The Renfrew Unified Treatment for Eating Disorders and Comorbidity: Long-Term Effects of an Evidence-Based Practice Implementation in Residential Treatment.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Pharmacotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of anorexia nervosa - too much for one drug?Expert opinion on pharmacotherapy · 2020Review
- Cognitive Interpersonal Model for Anorexia Nervosa Revisited: The Perpetuating Factors that Contribute to the Development of the Severe and Enduring Illness.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Review
- Diagnostic, clinical, and personality correlates of food anxiety during a food exposure in patients diagnosed with an eating disorder.Eating and weight disorders : EWD · 2019Article
- Medication in AN: A Multidisciplinary Overview of Meta-Analyses and Systematic Reviews.Journal of clinical medicine · 2019Review
- Neurostimulation in Clinical and Sub-clinical Eating Disorders: A Systematic Update of the Literature.Current neuropharmacology · 2018Review
- Fear of food prospectively predicts drive for thinness in an eating disorder sample recently discharged from intensive treatment.Eating behaviors · 2017Article
- Pharmacotherapy of eating disorders.Current opinion in psychiatry · 2017Review
- Enhancement of Psychosocial Treatment With D-Cycloserine: Models, Moderators, and Future Directions.Biological psychiatry · 2016Review
- The Role of Psychotropic Medications in the Management of Anorexia Nervosa: Rationale, Evidence and Future Prospects.CNS drugs · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveExposure therapy in anorexia nervosa has preliminarily been shown to be effective for increasing food intake. D-Cycloserine is a glutamatergic N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor agonist that has been shown to facilitate the benefits of exposure therapy for anxiety disorders by enhancing the emotional learning in the exposures; therefore, we examined D-cycloserine-facilitation of exposure therapy to increase body mass index (BMI) in patients with anorexia nervosa.
methodParticipants (N = 36) with anorexia nervosa (diagnosed via DSM-IV) were recruited from a partial hospitalization eating disorder clinic between February 2013 and November 2013. Participants were randomly assigned to receive exposure therapy plus D-cycloserine (n = 20) or placebo (n = 16). Participants completed psychoeducation and 4 sessions of exposure therapy, with medication (D-cycloserine vs placebo) given prior to the first 3 exposure sessions. They also completed a 1-month follow-up.
resultsAs hypothesized, participants in the D-cycloserine group showed a significantly greater increase in BMI than those in the placebo group (Wilk Λ = 0.86, F3,32 = 2.20, P = .043, ηp(2) = 0.12). D-Cycloserine participants gained 3 pounds relative to 0.5 pounds in the placebo group. Both groups experienced significantly decreased anxiety over the course of therapy (Wilk Λ = 0.80, F3,32 = 3.32, P = .023, ηp(2) = 0.20).
conclusionsThis study preliminarily demonstrates that D-cycloserine facilitates exposure therapy for anorexia nervosa, leading to increased weight gain. A potential mechanism is that participants who receive D-cycloserine may generalize learning from within-session exposures to food intake during other similar meals, resulting in sustained increases in BMI. Further research is needed to confirm these findings and test the putative mechanism that generalized learning from exposure therapy can increase BMI and stabilize a healthy weight.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01996644.
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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.