N-methyl Glycine (Sarcosine) for the Treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Sarcosine as Primary or Adjunctive Therapy in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: A Prospective, Open-label Study

Status

Completed

Phases

Phase 2

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01031927

Enrollment

Registered

2009-12-15

Start date

2007-06-30

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2009-12-29

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Keywords

obsessive compulsive disorder, sarcosine, glycine transporter I, NMDA receptor

Brief summary

Several lines of evidence implicate glutamatergic dysfunction in the pathophysiology of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). Sarcosine, also known as N-methylglycine, is an endogenous antagonist of glycine transporter-I (GlyT-I), which potentiates glycine's action at the glycine site of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors. In this 10-week open-label trial, we examined the efficacy and safety of sarcosine treatment in OCD patients.

Interventions

DRUGN-methyl glycine

staring from 500mg/day, increased by 500mg biweekly, up to maximin of 2000mg/day

Study design

Allocation

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Age

18 Years to 65 Years

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* a primary OCD according to DSM-IV * at least 1 year's duration of OC symptoms and a minimum severity score of ≥16 on Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale * drug naïve at study entry or * being free from psychotropic medication for at least 8 weeks at study entry,or * inadequately responded to ongoing psychotropic medications at study entry (defined by a Y-BOCS score of ≧16 despite treatment with maximum tolerated dose of a SRI medication for at least 8 weeks)

Exclusion criteria

* patients with moderate to severe depression defined by a 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score of \>17, * a history of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or other psychosis as defined by DSM-IV, or if they were at significant risk of suicide, and * with clinically significant organic disease including cardiovascular, hepatic, pulmonary, neurologic, metabolic, or renal disease

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale	week0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Hamilton Anxiety Rating scale	week0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10

Countries

Taiwan

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026