Tailoring Adjunct Glycine Therapy in Schizophrenia

调整精神分裂症的甘氨酸辅助疗法

• 批准号: nhmrc : 502910
• 负责人: A/Pr Patrick Johnston
• 金额: $ 29.83万
• 依托单位: University of Wollongong
• 依托单位国家: 澳大利亚
• 项目类别: NHMRC Strategic Awards
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 澳大利亚
• 起止时间: 2008-01-01 至 2013-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://researchdata.edu.au/tailoring-adjunct-glycine-therapy-schizophrenia/82333
• 关键词: Tailoring; Adjunct; Glycine; Therapy; Schizophrenia

‘Glycine’ is an amino acid that can be purchased ‘over the counter’ at health food shops in Australia. Although traditionally administered as a dietary supplement, recently there has been considerable excitement in the psychiatric community due to its ability to improve schizophrenia symptoms when administered in conjunction with mainstream medications. However, two issues need to be resolved in order for glycine to be employed as a routine therapy in schizophrenia. Firstly, this treatment is only effective in some patients, and we have no way of determining which patients will benefit from glycine. Secondly, there are both theoretical reasons and experimental evidence that glycine administration can cause severe impairment for some individuals. Thus although there is great potential for glycine to ease the burden of schizophrenia symptoms, these two issues need to be resolved before this possibility can be actualised. Theoretical considerations, supported by pilot research of the investigators, point to the view that schizophrenia patients’ baseline glycine level is the critical factor that determines whether a patient will benefit or be impaired by glycine therapy. This thesis offers a testable means with which to resolve the above limitations to the use of glycine. The purpose of the current research program is thus to provide the basis for rational prescription of glycine as an additional therapeutic tool in schizophrenia.

“甘氨酸”是一种氨基酸，可以在澳大利亚的健康食品商店“非处方”购买。虽然传统上是作为膳食补充剂服用，但最近在精神病学社区中，由于它与主流药物联合使用时能够改善精神分裂症症状，因此引起了相当大的兴奋。然而，为了将甘氨酸作为精神分裂症的常规治疗方法，有两个问题需要解决。首先，这种治疗只对部分患者有效，我们没有办法确定哪些患者会从甘氨酸中受益。其次，既有理论原因，也有实验证据表明，甘氨酸给药会对某些个体造成严重损害。因此，尽管甘氨酸在减轻精神分裂症症状负担方面有很大的潜力，但在实现这种可能性之前，需要解决这两个问题。研究人员的试点研究支持了理论考虑，指出精神分裂症患者的基线甘氨酸水平是决定患者是否受益于甘氨酸治疗的关键因素。本文提供了一种可测试的方法来解决甘氨酸使用的上述限制。因此，当前研究计划的目的是为合理处方甘氨酸作为精神分裂症的额外治疗工具提供基础。