N-Acetylcysteine Augmentation Therapy for Moderate-To-Severe Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial Publisher Pubmed



Paydary K¹ ; Akamaloo A¹ ; Ahmadipour A¹ ; Pishgar F¹ ; Emamzadehfard S¹ ; Akhondzadeh S¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Journal of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics Published:2016

Abstract

Summary What is known and objective N-acetylcysteine (NAC) has been proposed as a potential therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as it may regulate the exchange of glutamate and prevent its pre-oxidant effects. The aim of the present double-blind, placebo-controlled trial was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of NAC augmentation in moderate-to-severe (OCD) treatment. Methods In this randomized, double-blind, two-centre, placebo-controlled, 10-week trial, patients with moderate-to-severe OCD were enrolled. Patients were randomized into two parallel groups to receive fluvoxamine (200 mg daily) plus placebo or fluvoxamine (200 mg daily) plus NAC (2000 mg daily). A total of 44 patients (22 in each group) were visited to evaluate response to therapy using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) at baseline, and at weeks 4, 8 and 10. Side effects were recorded using predesigned checklists upon each visit. Results and discussion Repeated-measures ANOVA showed a significant effect for time × treatment interaction (Greenhouse-Geisser corrected: F = 5·14, d.f. = 1·64, P = 0·012) in the Y-BOCS total score and a significant effect for time × treatment interaction (Greenhouse-Geisser corrected: F = 5·44, d.f. = 1·54, P = 0·011) in the Y-BOCS obsession subscale between the two groups. What is new and conclusion Our results showed that NAC might be effective as an augmentative agent in the treatment of moderate-to-severe OCD. Trial registration Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (www.irct.ir): IRCT201405271556N60 © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.