Trial reportInternational journal of molecular sciences2015
Adding Sarcosine to Antipsychotic Treatment in Patients with Stable Schizophrenia Changes the Concentrations of Neuronal and Glial Metabolites in the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex.
Trial report in International journal of molecular sciences, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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
10 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Glutamatergic Modulation of Brain Function in Psychosis: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Studies.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025Pooled it
- Rational and Translational Implications of D-Amino Acids for Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: From Neurobiology to the Clinics.Biomolecules · 2022Pooled it
- Sarcosine May Induce EGF Production or Inhibit the Decline in EGF Concentrations in Patients with Chronic Schizophrenia (Results of the PULSAR Study).Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The potential ofPsychopharmacology · 2021Review
- The association of polygenic risk for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression with neural connectivity in adolescents and young adults: examining developmental and sex differences.Translational psychiatry · 2021Article
- Directly and Indirectly Targeting the Glycine Modulatory Site to Modulate NMDA Receptor Function to Address Unmet Medical Needs of Patients With Schizophrenia.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Review
- Comparative Pro-cognitive and Neurochemical Profiles of Glycine Modulatory Site Agonists and Glycine Reuptake Inhibitors in the Rat: Potential Relevance to Cognitive Dysfunction and Its Management.Molecular neurobiology · 2020Article
- Current Status of Drug Targets and Emerging Therapeutic Strategies in the Management of Alzheimer's Disease.Current neuropharmacology · 2020Review
- Sarcosine Is Uniquely Modulated by Aging and Dietary Restriction in Rodents and Humans.Cell reports · 2018Article
- Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The glutamatergic system is a key point in pathogenesis of schizophrenia. Sarcosine (N-methylglycine) is an exogenous amino acid that acts as a glycine transporter inhibitor. It modulates glutamatergic transmission by increasing glycine concentration around NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate) receptors. In patients with schizophrenia, the function of the glutamatergic system in the prefrontal cortex is impaired, which may promote negative and cognitive symptoms. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopy is a non-invasive imaging method enabling the evaluation of brain metabolite concentration, which can be applied to assess pharmacologically induced changes. The aim of the study was to evaluate the influence of a six-month course of sarcosine therapy on the concentration of metabolites (NAA, N-acetylaspartate; Glx, complex of glutamate, glutamine and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA); mI, myo-inositol; Cr, creatine; Cho, choline) in the left dorso-lateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in patients with stable schizophrenia. Fifty patients with schizophrenia, treated with constant antipsychotics doses, in stable clinical condition were randomly assigned to administration of sarcosine (25 patients) or placebo (25 patients) for six months. Metabolite concentrations in DLPFC were assessed with 1.5 Tesla ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. Clinical symptoms were evaluated with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The first spectroscopy revealed no differences in metabolite concentrations between groups. After six months, NAA/Cho, mI/Cr and mI/Cho ratios in the left DLPFC were significantly higher in the sarcosine than the placebo group. In the sarcosine group, NAA/Cr, NAA/Cho, mI/Cr, mI/Cho ratios also significantly increased compared to baseline values. In the placebo group, only the NAA/Cr ratio increased. The addition of sarcosine to antipsychotic therapy for six months increased markers of neurons viability (NAA) and neurogilal activity (mI) with simultaneous improvement of clinical symptoms. Sarcosine, two grams administered daily, seems to be an effective adjuvant in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia.
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