NCT01503359

Brief Summary

The purpose of study is to determine whether dietary supplement sarcosine is effective in treatment of schizophrenia. The investigators will assess impact of sarcosine on quality of life and sexual functioning. In this project the investigators will also measure glycine, sarcosine, BDNF, MMP-9 levels and oxydative stress parameters in blood, brain glutamatergic metabolism parameters in magnetic resonance spectroscopy and oculomotoric changes in electrooculography.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
70

participants targeted

Target at P25-P50 for phase_2 schizophrenia

Timeline
Completed

Started Jan 2012

Longer than P75 for phase_2 schizophrenia

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

December 30, 2011

Completed
2 days until next milestone

Study Start

First participant enrolled

January 1, 2012

Completed
3 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

January 4, 2012

Completed
3.1 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

February 1, 2015

Completed
11 months until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

January 1, 2016

Completed
Last Updated

September 16, 2016

Status Verified

September 1, 2016

Enrollment Period

3.1 years

First QC Date

December 30, 2011

Last Update Submit

September 15, 2016

Conditions

Keywords

glutamic acidsarcosineNMDAschizophrenia

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Assessment of sarcosine vs. placebo impact on schizophrenia symptoms using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS).

    Both arms, every visit

    6 months

Secondary Outcomes (7)

  • Impact assessment of sarcosine versus placebo on the parameters of quality of life (QoL) and sexual functioning.

    6 months

  • Impact assessment of sarcosine versus placebo on depressive symptoms using Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia.

    6 months

  • Impact assessment of sarcosine versus placebo on cognitive functions using Wisconsin Card Sort Test, Trail Making Test and Stroop Test.

    6 months

  • Impact assessment of sarcosine versus placebo on oxidative stress parameters (T-BARS).

    6 months

  • Impact assessment of sarcosine versus placebo on brain metabolism parameters (magnetic resonance spectroscopy).

    6 months

  • +2 more secondary outcomes

Study Arms (2)

Dietary Supplement: Sarcosine

EXPERIMENTAL

Sarcosine Group

Dietary Supplement: Sarcosine

Placebo

PLACEBO COMPARATOR

Control Group

Dietary Supplement: Sarcosine

Interventions

SarcosineDIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Sarcosine group patients will receive 2 grams of sarcosine once a day in the morning for 6 months. Placebo group patients will receive 2 grams of placebo once a day in the morning for 6 months.

Also known as: glycine transporter inhibitor, GlyT1 inhibitor
Dietary Supplement: SarcosinePlacebo

Eligibility Criteria

Age18 Years - 60 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersNo
Age GroupsAdult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

  • \- Diagnosis of schizophrenia (ICD-10)
  • Other criteria related to the diagnosis verified during the selection visit:
  • The score for the PANSS negative symptoms subscale ≥ 21,
  • Severity of individual symptoms in the PANSS positive symptoms subscale may not exceed 3 points.

You may not qualify if:

  • General
  • lack of written informed consent,
  • risk of noncompliance during the study period,
  • patients who can not be assessed throughout the study period (eg. due to travel or vacations),
  • pregnancy or breastfeeding,
  • women of childbearing potential not using effective contraception (ie. birth control pill, surgical sterilization, hormonal contraceptive injection, IUD, contraceptive implant, patch, or condoms),
  • participation in another clinical study, currently or within 3 months before the visit of a selection panel
  • patients previously subjected to selection for this study.
  • Medical and Therapeutic Criteria Associated with schizophrenia
  • patients in acute psychosis, severe symptoms of productive,
  • patients taking clozapine,
  • declaring suicidal tendencies, history of committing suicide in the past year.
  • Associated with other psychiatric disorders
  • patients currently meeting criteria for ICD-10 diagnosis of mental disorder other than schizophrenia (in the last 6 months before the visit of a selection), confirmed by the MINI questionnaire
  • patients showing a prevalent and / or severe symptoms of depression (even without meeting criteria for major depressive episode according to ICD-10 criteria),
  • +13 more criteria

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Central Clinical Hospital

Lodz, Czechosłowacka 8/10, 92-216, Poland

Location

Related Publications (21)

  • Carlsson A, Waters N, Waters S, Carlsson ML. Network interactions in schizophrenia - therapeutic implications. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 2000 Mar;31(2-3):342-9. doi: 10.1016/s0165-0173(99)00050-8.

    PMID: 10719161BACKGROUND
  • Carlsson M, Carlsson A. Interactions between glutamatergic and monoaminergic systems within the basal ganglia--implications for schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. Trends Neurosci. 1990 Jul;13(7):272-6. doi: 10.1016/0166-2236(90)90108-m.

    PMID: 1695402BACKGROUND
  • Coyle JT. The glutamatergic dysfunction hypothesis for schizophrenia. Harv Rev Psychiatry. 1996 Jan-Feb;3(5):241-53. doi: 10.3109/10673229609017192.

    PMID: 9384954BACKGROUND
  • Gao XM, Sakai K, Roberts RC, Conley RR, Dean B, Tamminga CA. Ionotropic glutamate receptors and expression of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunits in subregions of human hippocampus: effects of schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 2000 Jul;157(7):1141-9. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.157.7.1141.

    PMID: 10873924BACKGROUND
  • Goff DC, Herz L, Posever T, Shih V, Tsai G, Henderson DC, Freudenreich O, Evins AE, Yovel I, Zhang H, Schoenfeld D. A six-month, placebo-controlled trial of D-cycloserine co-administered with conventional antipsychotics in schizophrenia patients. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2005 Apr;179(1):144-50. doi: 10.1007/s00213-004-2032-2. Epub 2004 Oct 21.

    PMID: 15502972BACKGROUND
  • Goff DC, Coyle JT. The emerging role of glutamate in the pathophysiology and treatment of schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 2001 Sep;158(9):1367-77. doi: 10.1176/appi.ajp.158.9.1367.

    PMID: 11532718BACKGROUND
  • Javitt DC, Silipo G, Cienfuegos A, Shelley AM, Bark N, Park M, Lindenmayer JP, Suckow R, Zukin SR. Adjunctive high-dose glycine in the treatment of schizophrenia. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2001 Dec;4(4):385-91. doi: 10.1017/S1461145701002590.

    PMID: 11806864BACKGROUND
  • Javitt DC, Zukin SR. Recent advances in the phencyclidine model of schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry. 1991 Oct;148(10):1301-8. doi: 10.1176/ajp.148.10.1301.

    PMID: 1654746BACKGROUND
  • Lane HY, Liu YC, Huang CL, Chang YC, Liau CH, Perng CH, Tsai GE. Sarcosine (N-methylglycine) treatment for acute schizophrenia: a randomized, double-blind study. Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Jan 1;63(1):9-12. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.04.038. Epub 2007 Jul 20.

    PMID: 17659263BACKGROUND
  • Lane HY, Huang CL, Wu PL, Liu YC, Chang YC, Lin PY, Chen PW, Tsai G. Glycine transporter I inhibitor, N-methylglycine (sarcosine), added to clozapine for the treatment of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 2006 Sep 15;60(6):645-9. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.04.005. Epub 2006 Jun 14.

    PMID: 16780811BACKGROUND
  • Law AJ, Deakin JF. Asymmetrical reductions of hippocampal NMDAR1 glutamate receptor mRNA in the psychoses. Neuroreport. 2001 Sep 17;12(13):2971-4. doi: 10.1097/00001756-200109170-00043.

    PMID: 11588613BACKGROUND
  • McBain CJ, Mayer ML. N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor structure and function. Physiol Rev. 1994 Jul;74(3):723-60. doi: 10.1152/physrev.1994.74.3.723. No abstract available.

    PMID: 8036251BACKGROUND
  • Olney JW, Newcomer JW, Farber NB. NMDA receptor hypofunction model of schizophrenia. J Psychiatr Res. 1999 Nov-Dec;33(6):523-33. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3956(99)00029-1.

    PMID: 10628529BACKGROUND
  • Tsai G, Lane HY, Yang P, Chong MY, Lange N. Glycine transporter I inhibitor, N-methylglycine (sarcosine), added to antipsychotics for the treatment of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 2004 Mar 1;55(5):452-6. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2003.09.012.

    PMID: 15023571BACKGROUND
  • Tsai G, van Kammen DP, Chen S, Kelley ME, Grier A, Coyle JT. Glutamatergic neurotransmission involves structural and clinical deficits of schizophrenia. Biol Psychiatry. 1998 Oct 15;44(8):667-74. doi: 10.1016/s0006-3223(98)00151-6.

    PMID: 9798069BACKGROUND
  • Tuominen HJ, Tiihonen J, Wahlbeck K. Glutamatergic drugs for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2006 Apr 19;2006(2):CD003730. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD003730.pub2.

    PMID: 16625590BACKGROUND
  • West AR, Floresco SB, Charara A, Rosenkranz JA, Grace AA. Electrophysiological interactions between striatal glutamatergic and dopaminergic systems. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Nov;1003:53-74. doi: 10.1196/annals.1300.004.

    PMID: 14684435BACKGROUND
  • Yurgelun-Todd DA, Coyle JT, Gruber SA, Renshaw PF, Silveri MM, Amico E, Cohen B, Goff DC. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies of schizophrenic patients during word production: effects of D-cycloserine. Psychiatry Res. 2005 Jan 30;138(1):23-31. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2004.11.006.

    PMID: 15708298BACKGROUND
  • Zafra F, Aragon C, Olivares L, Danbolt NC, Gimenez C, Storm-Mathisen J. Glycine transporters are differentially expressed among CNS cells. J Neurosci. 1995 May;15(5 Pt 2):3952-69. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.15-05-03952.1995.

    PMID: 7751957BACKGROUND
  • Strzelecki D, Podgorski M, Kaluzynska O, Stefanczyk L, Kotlicka-Antczak M, Gmitrowicz A, Grzelak P. Adding Sarcosine to Antipsychotic Treatment in Patients with Stable Schizophrenia Changes the Concentrations of Neuronal and Glial Metabolites in the Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex. Int J Mol Sci. 2015 Oct 15;16(10):24475-89. doi: 10.3390/ijms161024475.

  • Strzelecki D, Podgorski M, Kaluzynska O, Gawlik-Kotelnicka O, Stefanczyk L, Kotlicka-Antczak M, Gmitrowicz A, Grzelak P. Supplementation of antipsychotic treatment with sarcosine - GlyT1 inhibitor - causes changes of glutamatergic (1)NMR spectroscopy parameters in the left hippocampus in patients with stable schizophrenia. Neurosci Lett. 2015 Oct 8;606:7-12. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2015.08.039. Epub 2015 Aug 22.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Schizophrenia

Interventions

Sarcosine

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic DisordersMental Disorders

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

N-substituted GlycinesGlycineAmino AcidsAmino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins

Study Officials

  • Dominik Strzelecki, MD, PhD

    Department of Affective and Psychotic Disorders, Medical University of Lodz

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
  • Jolanta Rabe-Jabłońska, MD, PhD

    Department of Affective and Psychotic Disorders, Medical University of Lodz

    STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
phase 2
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
DOUBLE
Who Masked
PARTICIPANT, INVESTIGATOR
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
PI Title
Principal Investigator

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

December 30, 2011

First Posted

January 4, 2012

Study Start

January 1, 2012

Primary Completion

February 1, 2015

Study Completion

January 1, 2016

Last Updated

September 16, 2016

Record last verified: 2016-09

Locations