Trial reportNutrients2015
Supplementation of Antipsychotic Treatment with the Amino Acid Sarcosine Influences Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Parameters in Left Frontal White Matter in Patients with Schizophrenia.
Trial report in Nutrients, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 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
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Glutamatergic Modulation of Brain Function in Psychosis: A Systematic Review of Neuroimaging Studies.Biological psychiatry. Cognitive neuroscience and neuroimaging · 2025Pooled it
- Placebo Response in Trials of Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia: A Critical Reassessment of the Evidence.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2022Pooled it
- Rational and Translational Implications of D-Amino Acids for Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia: From Neurobiology to the Clinics.Biomolecules · 2022Pooled it
- Serum levels of S100B in patients with chronic schizophrenia during treatment augmentation with sarcosine: results of the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled PULSAR study.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Trial
- Randomized controlled trial of the glycine transporter 1 inhibitor PF-03463275 to enhance cognitive training and neuroplasticity in schizophrenia.Schizophrenia research · 2023Trial
- Effect of SSR504734, a Selective Glycine Transporter Type 1 Inhibitor, on Seizure Thresholds, Neurotransmitter Levels, and Inflammatory Markers in Mice.ACS chemical neuroscience · 2025Article
- 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
- 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
- The GlyT1 Inhibitor Bitopertin Ameliorates Allodynia and Hyperalgesia in Animal Models of Neuropathic and Inflammatory Pain.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2017Article
- Modulating NMDA Receptor Function with D-Amino Acid Oxidase Inhibitors: Understanding Functional Activity in PCP-Treated Mouse Model.Neurochemical research · 2016Article
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
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Dysfunction of the glutamatergic system, the main stimulating system in the brain, has a major role in pathogenesis of schizophrenia. The frontal white matter (WM) is partially composed of axons from glutamatergic pyramidal neurons and glia with glutamatergic receptors. The natural amino acid sarcosine, a component of a normal diet, inhibits the glycine type 1 transporter, increasing the glycine level. Thus, it modulates glutamatergic transmission through the glutamatergic ionotropic NMDA (N-methyl-d-aspartate) receptor, which requires glycine as a co-agonist. To evaluate the concentrations of brain metabolites (NAA, N-acetylaspartate; Glx, complex of glutamate, glutamine, and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA); mI, myo-inositol; Cr, creatine; Cho, choline) in the left frontal WM, Proton Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (¹H-NMR) spectroscopy was used. Twenty-five patients randomly chosen from a group of fifty with stable schizophrenia (DSM-IV-TR) and dominant negative symptoms, who were receiving antipsychotic therapy, were administered 2 g of sarcosine daily for six months. The remaining 25 patients received placebo. Assignment was double blinded. ¹H-NMR spectroscopy (1.5 T) was performed twice: before and after the intervention. NAA, Glx and mI were evaluated as Cr and Cho ratios. All patients were also assessed twice with the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results were compared between groups and in two time points in each group. The sarcosine group demonstrated a significant decrease in WM Glx/Cr and Glx/Cho ratios compared to controls after six months of therapy. In the experimental group, the final NAA/Cr ratio significantly increased and Glx/Cr ratio significantly decreased compared to baseline values. Improvement in the PANSS scores was significant only in the sarcosine group. In patients with schizophrenia, sarcosine augmentation can reverse the negative effect of glutamatergic system overstimulation, with a simultaneous beneficial increase of NAA/Cr ratio in the WM of the left frontal lobe. Our results further support the glutamatergic hypothesis of schizophrenia.
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