Glutathione Levels and Compulsivity

Summary

The investigators will examine whether compulsivity in those who score above-average (but below clinical cut-off) on an eating disorder questionnaire can be altered by 9 days of N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). N-acetyl cysteine has been shown to be of some benefit in individuals with other compulsive disorders, such as trichotillomania and addiction, so this research investigates whether a short period of time taking N-acetyl cysteine changes compulsivity, measured using cognitive tasks and questionnaires.

Timeline

Start

2016-03

Primary completion

2017-04

Completion

2017-04

Publications

• Background Grant JE, Odlaug BL, Kim SW. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study of N-acetyl cysteine plus naltrexone for methamphetamine dependence. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2010 Nov;20(11):823-8. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2010.06.018. Epub 2010 Jul 22.
• Background Grant JE, Kim SW, Odlaug BL. N-acetyl cysteine, a glutamate-modulating agent, in the treatment of pathological gambling: a pilot study. Biol Psychiatry. 2007 Sep 15;62(6):652-7. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.11.021. Epub 2007 Apr 18.
• Background Grant JE, Fineberg N, van Ameringen M, Cath D, Visser H, Carmi L, Pallanti S, Hollander E, van Balkom AJ. New treatment models for compulsive disorders. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2016 May;26(5):877-84. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.11.008. Epub 2015 Nov 18.
• Background Gillan CM, Kosinski M, Whelan R, Phelps EA, Daw ND. Characterizing a psychiatric symptom dimension related to deficits in goal-directed control. Elife. 2016 Mar 1;5:e11305. doi: 10.7554/eLife.11305.
• Background Gillan CM, Otto AR, Phelps EA, Daw ND. Model-based learning protects against forming habits. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci. 2015 Sep;15(3):523-36. doi: 10.3758/s13415-015-0347-6.
• Background Voon V, Derbyshire K, Ruck C, Irvine MA, Worbe Y, Enander J, Schreiber LR, Gillan C, Fineberg NA, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW, Harrison NA, Wood J, Daw ND, Dayan P, Grant JE, Bullmore ET. Disorders of compulsivity: a common bias towards learning habits. Mol Psychiatry. 2015 Mar;20(3):345-52. doi: 10.1038/mp.2014.44. Epub 2014 May 20.
• Background Godier LR, Park RJ. Compulsivity in anorexia nervosa: a transdiagnostic concept. Front Psychol. 2014 Jul 17;5:778. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00778. eCollection 2014.
• Hoffman J, Williams T, Rothbart R, Ipser JC, Fineberg N, Chamberlain SR, Stein DJ. Pharmacotherapy for trichotillomania. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2021 Sep 28;9(9):CD007662. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007662.pub3.

Drugs

Indications