Trial reportPsychopharmacology2016
Effects of the potential lithium-mimetic, ebselen, on brain neurochemistry: a magnetic resonance spectroscopy study at 7 tesla.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 2 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 29 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
A Randomised, Parallel Group, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled, Add on Clinical Trial to Investigate Whether the Lithium Mimetic, Ebselen, Can Reduce Symptoms of Hypomania and Mania in Bipolar Patients
Does the IMPase Inhibitor, Ebselen, Affect Emotional Processing and Brain Myo-inositol in Treatment-resistant Depression?
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Role of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in cerebral glutathione quantification for youth mental health: A systematic review.Early intervention in psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Effects of acute ebselen add-on treatment on resting state function connectivity in depressed patients with inadequate response to antidepressants.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- No Evidence of Moderated Impulsivity Following Administration of the IMPase Inhibitor Ebselen in Healthy Adults.Human psychopharmacology · 2026Trial
- Lithium effects on impulsivity and emotional processing.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Acute neural effects of the mood stabiliser lamotrigine on emotional processing in healthy volunteers: a randomised control trial.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- Effects of ebselen addition on emotional processing and brain neurochemistry in depressed patients unresponsive to antidepressant medication.Translational psychiatry · 2024Trial
- A phase 2a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, add-on clinical trial of ebselen (SPI-1005) as a novel treatment for mania or hypomania.Psychopharmacology · 2020Trial
- Effects of the potential lithium-mimetic, ebselen, on impulsivity and emotional processing.Psychopharmacology · 2016Trial
- Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidant Strategies in Epilepsy: From Molecular Mechanisms to Threshold Management.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Botulinum Neurotoxins as Two-Faced Janus Proteins.Biomedicines · 2025Review
- Should ebselen be considered for the treatment of mercury intoxication? A minireview.Toxicology mechanisms and methods · 2024Review
- Multinuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at Ultra-High-Field: Assessing Human Cerebral Metabolism in Healthy and Diseased States.Metabolites · 2023Review
- Synthesis, Catalytic GPx-like Activity, and SET Reactions of Conformationally Constrained 2,7-Dialkoxy-Substituted Naphthalene-1,8-ACS omega · 2022Article
- Toxicology and pharmacology of botulinum and tetanus neurotoxins: an update.Archives of toxicology · 2022Review
- The Potential Use of Ebselen in Treatment-Resistant Depression.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Lithium as a Neuroprotective Agent for Bipolar Disorder: An Overview.Cellular and molecular neurobiology · 2022Review
- NRM 2021 Abstract Booklet.Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism · 2021Article
- Ebselen and Analogues: Pharmacological Properties and Synthetic Strategies for Their Preparation.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- Toxicology and pharmacology of synthetic organoselenium compounds: an update.Archives of toxicology · 2021Review
- 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
10 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
rationaleLithium is an effective treatment for bipolar disorder, but safety issues complicate its clinical use. The antioxidant drug, ebselen, may be a possible lithium-mimetic based on its ability to inhibit inositol monophosphatase (IMPase), an action which it shares with lithium.
objectivesOur primary aim was to determine whether ebselen lowered levels of inositol in the human brain. We also assessed the effect of ebselen on other brain neurometabolites, including glutathione, glutamate, glutamine, and glutamate + glutamine (Glx)
methodsTwenty healthy volunteers were tested on two occasions receiving either ebselen (3600 mg over 24 h) or identical placebo in a double-blind, random-order, crossover design. Two hours after the final dose of ebselen/placebo, participants underwent proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ((1)H MRS) at 7 tesla (T) with voxels placed in the anterior cingulate and occipital cortex. Neurometabolite levels were calculated using an unsuppressed water signal as a reference and corrected for individual cerebrospinal fluid content in the voxel.
resultsEbselen produced no effect on neurometabolite levels in the occipital cortex. In the anterior cingulate cortex, ebselen lowered concentrations of inositol (p = 0.028, Cohen's d = 0.60) as well as those of glutathione (p = 0.033, d = 0.58), glutamine (p = 0.024, d = 0.62), glutamate (p = 0.01, d = 0.73), and Glx (p = 0.001, d = 1.0).
conclusionsThe study suggests that ebselen produces a functional inhibition of IMPase in the human brain. The effect of ebselen to lower glutamate is consistent with its reported ability to inhibit the enzyme, glutaminase. Ebselen may have potential as a repurposed treatment for bipolar disorder.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.