ArticleEClinicalMedicine2021
N-acetylcysteine (NAC) for methamphetamine dependence: A randomised controlled trial.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 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
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence-based consensus guidelines for the pharmacological management of substance dependence: Recommendations from the British Association for Psychopharmacology.Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) · 2026Guideline
- N-acetylcysteine as a treatment for substance use cravings: A meta-analysis.Addiction biology · 2024Pooled it
- Effect of N-acetylcysteine on craving in substance use disorders (SUD): a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2024Pooled it
- A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of N-acetylcysteine as an adjuvant treatment for alcohol use disorder.Revista brasileira de psiquiatria (Sao Paulo, Brazil : 1999) · 2025Trial
- How does a family history of psychosis influence the risk of methamphetamine-related psychotic symptoms: Evidence from longitudinal panel data.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Trial
- Diagnostic accuracy for self-reported methamphetamine use versus oral fluid test as the reference standard in a methamphetamine-dependent intervention trial population.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Trial
- Research Progress on the Regulatory Mechanisms of Gut Microbiota in Methamphetamine Addiction and Targeted Interventions.Addiction biology · 2026Review
- An international, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial of adjunctive trimetazidine to treat people with bipolar depression (the TIDE trial) protocol.BMC psychiatry · 2026Article
- Review
- Article
- The Effect of N-Acetylcysteine on Behavioral Sensitization to Methamphetamine in Mice.Physiological research · 2025Article
- Targeting Neuroplasticity in Substance Use Disorders: Implications for Therapeutics.Annual review of pharmacology and toxicology · 2025Review
- The Mechanism and Inflammatory Markers Involved in the Potential Use of N-acetylcysteine in Chronic Pain Management.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Exploring the potential link between ΔFosB andActa neuropsychiatrica · 2024Review
- N-acetylcysteine as a treatment for substance use cravings: A meta-analysis.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Article
- Article
- Pharmacological Treatments for Methamphetamine Use Disorder: Current Status and Future Targets.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2024Review
- Oxidative Stress and Inflammatory Biomarkers in People with Methamphetamine Use Disorder.Clinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
- The Impact ofClinical psychopharmacology and neuroscience : the official scientific journal of the Korean College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
26 authors at 12 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMethamphetamine dependence is a significant global health concern for which there are no approved medications. The cysteine prodrug, N-acetylcysteine (NAC), has been found to ameliorate glutamate dysregulation in addiction, and to reduce craving for methamphetamine and other drugs. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of NAC as a pharmacotherapy for methamphetamine dependence.
methodsA parallel double-blind randomised placebo-controlled trial of people dependent on methamphetamine recruited from Geelong, Melbourne and Wollongong, Australia, between July 2018 and December 2019. Participants were randomised to receive either 12 weeks of oral NAC (2400 mg/day) or matched placebo, delivered as a take-home medication. The primary outcome was methamphetamine use, measured in two ways: (a) change in days of use in the past 4 weeks from baseline to weeks 4, 8 and 12, assessed using the Timeline Followback; and (b) methamphetamine-positive oral fluid samples taken weekly. Analyses were intention-to-treat and based on imputed data. Secondary outcomes were craving, severity of dependence, withdrawal severity and psychiatric symptoms (depression, suicidality, hostility and psychotic symptoms). Significance levels were
resultsParticipants (
interpretationThese findings suggest that take-home oral NAC has no significant effect on methamphetamine use or most clinically related outcomes amongst people who are dependent on the drug.
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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.