Tier 2 — strong

Double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover trial of glycine adjuvant therapy for treatment-resistant schizophrenia

Heresco-Levy U, Javitt DC, Ermilov M, Mordel C, Horowitz A, Kelly D
The British journal of psychiatry : the journal of mental science 1996 169(5):610-617

Bibliography

PubMed
PMID 8932891
DOI
10.1192/bjp.169.5.610
Funding
Funding was not specified in the indexed abstract; the full funding disclosure has not been verified.
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
Sample11 treatment-resistant patients completed the crossover trial
InterventionGlycine 0.8 g/kg/day added to ongoing antipsychotics versus placebo
Duration6-week treatment periods
EndpointsNegative symptoms; Clinical scales; Tolerability

What the study showed, in plain terms

This small crossover trial reported reduced negative symptoms with high-dose adjunctive glycine. It is an exploratory result in treatment-resistant schizophrenia.

Key findings

  • The reported mean negative-symptom reduction was about 36%.
  • Serum glycine increased during treatment.

What this study can and cannot tell us

The original report identifies eleven completers, rather than twelve assumed from some summaries.

Small crossover study and clinical dosing do not support routine self-treatment.

Related papers in the corpus

Tier 2
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
Tier 2
Effect of clozapine and adjunctive high-dose glycine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia
Potkin SG et al. · The American journal of psychiatry · 1999
Tier 2
High-dose glycine added to olanzapine and risperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia
Heresco-Levy U et al. · Biological psychiatry · 2004
Tier 2
Efficacy of high-dose glycine in the treatment of enduring negative symptoms of schizophrenia
Heresco-Levy U et al. · Archives of general psychiatry · 1999
Tier 2
Amelioration of negative symptoms in schizophrenia by glycine
Javitt DC et al. · The American journal of psychiatry · 1994
Tier 2
Adjunctive high-dose glycine in the treatment of schizophrenia
Javitt DC et al. · The international journal of neuropsychopharmacology · 2001

Editorial review

Reviewed by the Biohack Blueprint research team

Last verified

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