Tier 2 — strong

Amelioration of negative symptoms in schizophrenia by glycine

Javitt DC, Zylberman I, Zukin SR, Heresco-Levy U, Lindenmayer JP
The American journal of psychiatry 1994 151(8):1234-1236

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 8037263
DOI
10.1176/ajp.151.8.1234
Funding
Indexed support: NIMH NIH HHS. See the publication for grant and funder details.
Competing interests
The accessible abstract does not establish the authors' competing interests; absence of a statement is not evidence of no conflicts.

Study snapshot

DesignRandomized controlled human intervention
ModelAdult humans
Sample14 medicated adults with chronic schizophrenia
InterventionAdjunctive glycine, titrated toward 0.4 g/kg/day, versus placebo
Duration8-week treatment period
EndpointsNegative symptoms of schizophrenia

What the study showed, in plain terms

An early small trial reported improvement in negative symptoms when glycine was added to antipsychotic treatment. Later, larger studies did not consistently reproduce a benefit.

Key findings

  • Negative symptoms improved in the glycine arm but not the placebo arm.
  • Glycine was an adjunct to existing medication, not a replacement treatment.

What this study can and cannot tell us

Very small early trial with limited precision and short follow-up.

Clinical findings in schizophrenia do not establish cognitive benefits in healthy adults.

Related papers in the corpus

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The Cognitive and Negative Symptoms in Schizophrenia Trial (CONSIST): the efficacy of glutamatergic agents for negative symptoms and cognitive impairments
Buchanan RW et al. · The American journal of psychiatry · 2007
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Effect of clozapine and adjunctive high-dose glycine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia
Potkin SG et al. · The American journal of psychiatry · 1999
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High-dose glycine added to olanzapine and risperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia
Heresco-Levy U et al. · Biological psychiatry · 2004
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Efficacy of high-dose glycine in the treatment of enduring negative symptoms of schizophrenia
Heresco-Levy U et al. · Archives of general psychiatry · 1999
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Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of glycine adjuvant therapy for treatment-resistant schizophrenia
Heresco-Levy U et al. · The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science · 1996
Tier 2
Adjunctive high-dose glycine in the treatment of schizophrenia
Javitt DC et al. · The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2001

Editorial review

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Dr. Khaled Mahmoud, MBBChCritical Care Medicine, Longevity Science & Editorial Direction