A six-month, placebo-controlled trial of D-cycloserine co-administered with conventional antipsychotics in schizophrenia patients.

Author(s): Goff DC, Herz L, Posever T, Shih V, Tsai G, Henderson DC, Freudenreich O, Evins AE, Yovel I, Zhang H, Schoenfeld D

Affiliation(s): Schizophrenia Program, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass., USA. goff@psych.mgh.harvard.edu

Publication date & source: 2005-04, Psychopharmacology (Berl)., 179(1):144-50. Epub 2004 Oct 21.

Publication type: Clinical Trial; Randomized Controlled Trial

RATIONALE: D-Cycloserine, a partial agonist at the glycine site of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor, has demonstrated inconsistent efficacy for negative and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia. The strongest evidence for efficacy has come from studies using D-cycloserine at a dose of 50 mg/day added to conventional antipsychotics in trials of 8 weeks duration or less.OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy for negative symptoms and cognitive impairment of D-cycloserine augmentation of conventional antipsychotics in a 6-month trial.METHODS: Fifty-five schizophrenia patients with prominent negative symptoms, treated with conventional antipsychotics, were randomly assigned to treatment with D-cycloserine 50 mg/day or placebo for 6 months in a double-blind, parallel group design.RESULTS: Twenty-six subjects completed the 6-month trial; drop-out rates did not differ between treatment groups. D-Cycloserine treatment did not differ from placebo treatment on any primary outcome measure at 8 or 24 weeks, including response of negative symptoms and performance on a cognitive battery. Serum D-cycloserine concentrations did not correlate with response of negative symptoms.CONCLUSION: D-Cycloserine did not exhibit therapeutic effects in this trial, possibly reflecting the high drop-out rate, a narrow range of therapeutic serum concentrations, a modest magnitude of therapeutic effect for the selected outcome measures, or loss of efficacy over time. Because D-cycloserine is a partial agonist with relatively low affinity for the glycine site, the magnitude of potential therapeutic effect may be smaller than that achieved by the higher-affinity full agonists, glycine and D-serine.