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D-Serine in the Treatment of Psychosis

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NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy

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Abstract

This chapter is intended to provide fundamental information about D-serine and its application to adjunctive pharmacotherapy with currently used antipsychotics for schizophrenia. In the first sections, the chemical structures and features of the metabolism, pharmacology, and pharmacokinetics of D-serine are introduced. In particular, the interaction between D-serine and the N-methyl-D-aspartate-type glutamate receptor (NMDA receptor) consisting of GluN1/GluN2 subunits, which is the basis for the therapeutic action of D-serine on schizophrenia, is explained, and the effects of D-serine on the NMDA receptor including GluN1/GluN3 subunits and the GluD2-type glutamate receptor are also discussed. The consecutive sections describe the clinical indications of D-serine under investigation for the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia and other neuropsychiatric disorders, and summarize the clinical trials of add-on D-serine in schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder and their efficacy for presently available antipsychotic-resistant symptoms in these disorders. Furthermore, the overviews and conclusions of the meta-analyses of these trials are listed. The last sections mention the adverse events, tolerability, and safety during the clinical treatment with D-serine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, and Pharmacological Research Center, Showa University, Tokyo, Japan

    Toru Nishikawa, Asami Umino & Masakazu Umino

Authors
  1. Toru Nishikawa
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  2. Asami Umino
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  3. Masakazu Umino
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Toru Nishikawa .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept Psychiatry , Psychosomatics & Psychotherapy, University of Würzburg, Medical School Clinical Neurochemistry, Würzburg, Germany

    Peter Riederer

  2. Inst für Psychologische Medizin, Haag, Bayern, Germany

    Gerd Laux

  3. Fujita Health University School Medicine, Toyoake, Aichi, Japan

    Toshiharu Nagatsu

  4. Center Translational Res Neurol Diseases, Dalian Med Uni Shanghai Inst Health Sc Center Translational Res Neurol Diseases, Dalian, China

    Weidong Le

  5. Würzburg, Bayern, Germany

    Christian Riederer

Section Editor information

  1. Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany

    Frank Schmidt

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Nishikawa, T., Umino, A., Umino, M. (2021). D-Serine in the Treatment of Psychosis. In: Riederer, P., Laux, G., Nagatsu, T., Le, W., Riederer, C. (eds) NeuroPsychopharmacotherapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56015-1_391-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56015-1_391-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56015-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56015-1

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