Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40455920›Full record

Trial reportPloS one2025

The effect of D-cycloserine on brain connectivity over a course of pulmonary rehabilitation - A randomised control trial with neuroimaging endpoints.

Sarah L Finnegan, Olivia K Harrison, Martyn Ezra, Catherine J Harmer, Thomas E Nichols, Najib M Rahman, Andrea Reinecke, Kyle T S Pattinson

Registry-linked trialAbstract readClinical Trial, Phase IRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT01985750 (Understanding the Importance of Plasticity in the Brain Mechanisms of Dyspnoea Perception), which is not on this map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

NCT01985750 early_phase1unknown statusnot on this map

Understanding the Importance of Plasticity in the Brain Mechanisms of Dyspnoea Perception

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of OxfordRan2013 to 2020Enrolled90ConditionsChronic Obstructive Pulmonary DiseaseArmsd-cycloserine, placebo
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Sarah L FinneganWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging and Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2249-7612
Olivia K HarrisonDepartment of Psychology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Martyn EzraWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging and Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Catherine J HarmerDepartment of Psychiatry, Medical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Thomas E NicholsOxford Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford United Kingdom.
Najib M RahmanNuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Andrea ReineckeDepartment of Psychiatry, Medical Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Kyle T S PattinsonWellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging and Nuffield Division of Anaesthetics, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Combining traditional therapies such as pulmonary rehabilitation with brain-targeted drugs may offer new therapeutic opportunities for the treatment of chronic breathlessness. Recently, we asked whether D-cycloserine, a partial NMDA-receptor agonist which may enhance behavioural therapies, modifies the relationship between breathlessness related brain activity and breathlessness anxiety over pulmonary rehabilitation. However, whether any changes are supported by alterations to underlying brain structure remains unknown. Here we examine the effect of D-cycloserine over a course of pulmonary rehabilitation on the connectivity between key brain regions associated with the processing of breathlessness anxiety. 72 participants with mild-to-moderate COPD took part in a longitudinal study in parallel to their pulmonary rehabilitation course. Diffusion tensor brain imaging and clinical measures of respiratory function were collected at three time points (before, during and after pulmonary rehabilitation). Participants were assigned to 250mg of D-cycloserine or placebo, which they were administered with on four occasions in a randomised, double-blind procedure. Following the first four sessions of pulmonary rehabilitation (visit 2), during which D-cycloserine was administered, improvements in breathlessness anxiety were linked with increased insula-hippocampal structural connectivity in the D-cycloserine group when compared to the placebo group. No differences were found between the two groups following the completion of the full pulmonary rehabilitation course 4-6 weeks later (visit 3). The action of D-cycloserine on brain connectivity appears to be restricted to within a short time-window of its administration. This temporary boost of the brain connectivity of two key regions associated with the evaluation of how unpleasant an experience is may support the re-evaluation of breathlessness cues, illustrated improvements in breathlessness anxiety. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT01985750).

Indexed as

BrainCycloserineDyspneaPulmonary Disease, Chronic ObstructiveAgedAnxietyDiffusion Tensor ImagingDouble-Blind MethodFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedNeuroimagingCycloserine

Identifiers

PMID40455920
PMCPMC12129347

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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.