L-Theanine in the Management of Schizophrenia

NCT ID: NCT00372151

Last Updated: 2008-12-16

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

60 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2006-10-31

Study Completion Date

2008-12-31

Brief Summary

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The aim of the proposed study is to investigate the efficacy and safety of add-on gamma-glutamylethylamide (L-theanine) versus a placebo for antipsychotic treatment for 8 weeks in a randomized, double-blind, parallel group study of 60 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders.

Detailed Description

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This is a two-year randomized placebo-controlled double-blind investigation of the use of augmentative L-theanine in the management of 60 patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders. We will investigate several outcome variables in these patients including the positive and negative symptoms, affective features, emotional distress, neuropsychological testing, side effects, and the quality of life. Participating subjects on stable antipsychotic treatment will be randomized to receive for 8 weeks either L-theanine (400 mg/day) or a placebo in addition to regular ongoing antipsychotic medication for 8 weeks. Subjects will be assessed at baseline and after 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks of treatment using psychiatric rating scales, self-reported questionnaires, and a neuropsychological battery of tests. The efficacy and safety of augmenting antipsychotic treatment with L-theanine will be analyzed.

The Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) will be administered at commencement and completion of the study. The CANTAB battery consists of a series of interrelated computerized tests of visual and movement skills, attention and memory, and executive function, administered via a touch sensitive screen. The nonverbal nature of the CANTAB tests makes them largely language independent and culture free. These tests are run on an IBM-compatible personal computer with a touch-sensitive screen. Neuropsychological testing lasts approximately 2 hours. Subjects complete the tests in a fixed order with a break half-way through the testing session. For a description of the nature of these tests, the performance measures used, and how the test scores are derived, see (http://www.cantab.com/cantab/site/home.acds). The neuropsychological tests are categorized onto five cognitive domains: visual and movement skills, attention, memory, learning, sustained attention, and executive function: Motor Screening, Big/Little Circle, Reaction Time, Matching to Sample Visual Search, Delayed Matching to Sample, Pattern Recognition Memory, Spatial Recognition Memory, Spatial Span, Rapid visual information processing, Spatial working memory, Intra/Extra Dimensional Set Shift, and Stockings of Cambridge. In addition to raw scores from these tasks, the average value of the z-scores of the CANTAB neurocognitive tasks will be used to determine cognitive indices in specific domains.

Conditions

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Schizophrenia

Keywords

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Schizophrenia Schizoaffective disorders Theonine Augmentation

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Investigators

Study Groups

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L-Theanine

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

L-Theanine

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

400 mg/day, caps.

Placebo

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type OTHER

caps.

Interventions

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L-Theanine

400 mg/day, caps.

Intervention Type DIETARY_SUPPLEMENT

Placebo

caps.

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Age 18-60 years, men or women
* DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder
* At least 4 on the Clinical Global Impression Scale
* At least two weeks of ongoing treatment with current antipsychotic agents.
* Ability and willingness to sign an informed consent form for participation in the study.

Exclusion Criteria

* Evidence of serious neurologic or endocrine disorder, for example severe head trauma, seizure disorder, dementia, Cushings disease, or thyroid disorder, mental retardation, alcohol or drug abuse.
* Renal disease
* Hepatic dysfunction
* Pregnant women
* Patients receiving mood stabilizing medications.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

60 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Stanley Medical Research Institute

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

Beersheva Mental Health Center

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role collaborator

Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Technion

Principal Investigators

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Michael S Ritsner, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center

Yael Ratner, MD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center

Anatoly Gibel, MD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center

Chanoch Miodownik, MD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Be'er Sheva Mental Health Center

Tatyana Shleifer, MD

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Be'er Sheva Mental Health Center

Locations

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Be'er Sheva Mental Health Center

Beersheba, , Israel

Site Status

Sha'ar Menashe Mental Health Center

Hadera, , Israel

Site Status

Countries

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Israel

References

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Yamada T, Terashima T, Okubo T, Juneja LR, Yokogoshi H. Effects of theanine, r-glutamylethylamide, on neurotransmitter release and its relationship with glutamic acid neurotransmission. Nutr Neurosci. 2005 Aug;8(4):219-26. doi: 10.1080/10284150500170799.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 16493792 (View on PubMed)

Yokogoshi H, Terashima T. Effect of theanine, r-glutamylethylamide, on brain monoamines, striatal dopamine release and some kinds of behavior in rats. Nutrition. 2000 Sep;16(9):776-7. doi: 10.1016/s0899-9007(00)00384-1. No abstract available.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 10978861 (View on PubMed)

Miodownik C, Maayan R, Ratner Y, Lerner V, Pintov L, Mar M, Weizman A, Ritsner MS. Serum levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and cortisol to sulfate of dehydroepiandrosterone molar ratio associated with clinical response to L-theanine as augmentation of antipsychotic therapy in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder patients. Clin Neuropharmacol. 2011 Jul-Aug;34(4):155-60. doi: 10.1097/WNF.0b013e318220d8c6.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 21617527 (View on PubMed)

Ritsner MS, Miodownik C, Ratner Y, Shleifer T, Mar M, Pintov L, Lerner V. L-theanine relieves positive, activation, and anxiety symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder: an 8-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, 2-center study. J Clin Psychiatry. 2011 Jan;72(1):34-42. doi: 10.4088/JCP.09m05324gre. Epub 2010 Nov 30.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 21208586 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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Theanine 10/2006.ctil

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id