Repository logo

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne

Infoscience

  • English
  • French
Log In
  1. Home
  2. Academic and Research Output
  3. Journal articles
  4. N-acetylcysteine add-on treatment leads to an improvement of fornix white matter integrity in early psychosis: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial
 
research article

N-acetylcysteine add-on treatment leads to an improvement of fornix white matter integrity in early psychosis: a double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial

Klauser, Paul
•
Xin, Lijing
•
Fournier, Margot
Show more
2018
Translational Psychiatry

Mechanism-based treatments for schizophrenia are needed, and increasing evidence suggests that oxidative stress may be a target. Previous research has shown that N-acetylcysteine (NAC), an antioxidant and glutathione (GSH) precursor almost devoid of side effects, improved negative symptoms, decreased the side effects of antipsychotics, and improved mismatch negativity and local neural synchronization in chronic schizophrenia. In a recent double-blind randomized placebo-controlled trial by Conus et al., early psychosis patients received NAC add-on therapy (2700 mg/day) for 6 months. Compared with placebo-treated controls, NAC patients showed significant improvements in neurocognition (processing speed) and a reduction of positive symptoms among patients with high peripheral oxidative status. NAC also led to a 23% increase in GSH levels in the medial prefrontal cortex (GSHmPFC) as measured by (1)H magnetic resonance spectroscopy. A subgroup of the patients in this study were also scanned with multimodal MR imaging (spectroscopy, diffusion, and structural) at baseline (prior to NAC/placebo) and after 6 months of add-on treatment. Based on prior translational research, we hypothesized that NAC would protect white matter integrity in the fornix. A group x time interaction indicated a difference in the 6-month evolution of white matter integrity (as measured by generalized fractional anisotropy, gFA) in favor of the NAC group, which showed an 11% increase. The increase in gFA correlated with an increase in GSHmPFC over the same 6-month period. In this secondary study, we suggest that NAC add-on treatment may be a safe and effective way to protect white matter integrity in early psychosis patients.

  • Files
  • Details
  • Metrics
Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Name

Klauser_TranslPsych_2018.pdf

Access type

openaccess

Size

478.5 KB

Format

Adobe PDF

Checksum (MD5)

d2998b549247528322006ca48ae79967

Logo EPFL, École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne
  • Contact
  • infoscience@epfl.ch

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Follow us on LinkedIn
  • Follow us on X
  • Follow us on Youtube
AccessibilityLegal noticePrivacy policyCookie settingsEnd User AgreementGet helpFeedback

Infoscience is a service managed and provided by the Library and IT Services of EPFL. © EPFL, tous droits réservés