The DOI matches its Crossref record; 218 of the 218 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Clinical trials of N-acetylcysteine in psychiatry and neurology: A systematic review
Open accessAbstract
N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is recognized for its role in acetaminophen overdose and as a mucolytic. Over the past decade, there has been growing evidence for the use of NAC in treating psychiatric and neurological disorders, considering its role in attenuating pathophysiological processes associated with these disorders, including oxidative stress, apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, neuroinflammation and glutamate and dopamine dysregulation. In this systematic review we find favorable evidence for the use of NAC in several psychiatric and neurological disorders, particularly autism, Alzheimer's disease, cocaine and cannabis addiction, bipolar disorder, depression, trichotillomania, nail biting, skin picking, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, drug-induced neuropathy and progressive myoclonic epilepsy. Disorders such as anxiety, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and mild traumatic brain injury have preliminary evidence and require larger confirmatory studies while current evidence does not support the use of NAC in gambling, methamphetamine and nicotine addictions and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Overall, NAC treatment appears to be safe and tolerable. Further well designed, larger controlled trials are needed for specific psychiatric and neurological disorders where the evidence is favorable.
Overview
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Cognitive studies of NAC have produced inconsistent results, which may be linked to variations in study design [155].”
From Cognitive remission: a novel objective for the treatment of major depression? (2016) · cites this paper as [155]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Citations
Cites
Function and Activation of NF-kappaB in the Immune System
Baeuerle, P. A., & Henkel, T. (1994) · Annual Review of Immunology · doi:10.1146/annurev.iy.12.040194.001041 · Cited by 4,745
A Meta-Analysis of Cytokines in Major Depression
Dowlati, Y., Herrmann, N., Swardfager, W., Liu, H., Sham, L., Reim, E. K., & Lanctôt, K. L. (2010) · Biological Psychiatry · doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2009.09.033 · Cited by 4,729
The well-built clinical question: A key to evidence-based decisions
(1995) · ACP Journal Club · doi:10.7326/acpjc-1995-123-3-a12 · Cited by 2,931
Model of autism: increased ratio of excitation/inhibition in key neural systems
Rubenstein, J. L. R., & Merzenich, M. M. (2003) · Genes, Brain and Behavior · doi:10.1034/j.1601-183x.2003.00037.x · Cited by 2,768
Excitatory Amino Acids as a Final Common Pathway for Neurologic Disorders
Epstein, F. H., Lipton, S. A., & Rosenberg, P. A. (1994) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199403033300907 · Cited by 2,676
Goldstein, R. Z., & Volkow, N. D. (2002) · American Journal of Psychiatry · doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.159.10.1642 · Cited by 2,667
NEURAL MECHANISMS OF ADDICTION: The Role of Reward-Related Learning and Memory
Hyman, S. E., Malenka, R. C., & Nestler, E. J. (2006) · Annual Review of Neuroscience · doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.29.051605.113009 · Cited by 2,647
Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease
Wang, X., Wang, W., Li, L., Perry, G., Lee, H.-G., & Zhu, X. (2014) · Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Molecular Basis of Disease · doi:10.1016/j.bbadis.2013.10.015 · Cited by 1,357
Glutathione, oxidative stress and neurodegeneration
Schulz, J. B., Lindenau, J. H., Seyfried, J., & DICHGANS, J. (2000) · European Journal of Biochemistry · doi:10.1046/j.1432-1327.2000.01595.x · Cited by 1,225
Metaplasticity: tuning synapses and networks for plasticity
Abraham, W. C. (2008) · Nature reviews. Neuroscience · doi:10.1038/nrn2356 · Cited by 1,166
Cited by
Sorted by citations
N-Acetylcysteine (NAC): Impacts on Human Health
Tenório, M. C. D. S., Graciliano, N. G., Moura, F. A., Oliveira, A. C. M. D., & Goulart, M. O. F. (2021) · Antioxidants · doi:10.3390/antiox10060967 · Cited by 526
Nutritional psychiatry: The present state of the evidence
Marx, W., Moseley, G., Berk, M., & Jacka, F. (2017) · Proceedings of the Nutrition Society · doi:10.1017/s0029665117002026 · Cited by 469
Self-citationCognitive remission: a novel objective for the treatment of major depression?
Bortolato, B., Miskowiak, K. W., Köhler, C. A., Maes, M., Fernandes, B. S., Berk, M., & Carvalho, A. F. (2016) · BMC Medicine · doi:10.1186/s12916-016-0560-3 · Cited by 252
Self-citationPeripheral Markers of Depression
Nobis, A., Zalewski, D., & Waszkiewicz, N. (2020) · Journal of Clinical Medicine · doi:10.3390/jcm9123793 · Cited by 197
Amino acid catabolism in Alzheimer’s disease brain: Friend or foe?
Griffin, J. W. D., & Bradshaw, P. C. (2017) · Oxidative Medicine and Cellular Longevity · doi:10.1155/2017/5472792 · Cited by 185
Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Unique Abnormalities and Targeted Treatments
Frye, R. E. (2020) · Seminars in Pediatric Neurology · doi:10.1016/j.spen.2020.100829 · Cited by 161
Self-citationFrye, R. E., & Rossignol, D. A. (2016) · Clinical Medicine Insights Pediatrics · doi:10.4137/cmped.s38337 · Cited by 96
Self-citationThe Potential of N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (NAC) in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders
Bradlow, R. C. J., Berk, M., Kalivas, P. W., Back, S. E., & Kanaan, R. A. (2022) · CNS Drugs · doi:10.1007/s40263-022-00907-3 · Cited by 87
Self-citationNamba, M. D., Leyrer-Jackson, J. M., Nagy, E. K., Olive, M. F., & Neisewander, J. L. (2021) · Frontiers in Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.650785 · Cited by 76
Glutamate transport: a new bench to bedside mechanism for treating drug abuse
Spencer, S., & Kalivas, P. W. (2017) · International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology · doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyx050 · Cited by 71
Immunological Dysfunction in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Potential Target for Therapy
Marchezan, J., Winkler dos Santos, E. G. A., Deckmann, I., & Riesgo, R. D. S. (2018) · Neuroimmunomodulation · doi:10.1159/000492225 · Cited by 70
Morbidity in depressive disorders
Baldessarini, R. J., Forte, A., Selle, V., Sim, K., Tondo, L., Undurraga, J., & Vázquez, G. H. (2017) · Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics · doi:10.1159/000448661 · Cited by 63
Clinical Staging for Youth Mental Disorders: Progress in Reforming Diagnosis and Clinical Care
McGorry, P. D., & Mei, C. (2021) · Annual Review of Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1146/annurev-devpsych-050620-030405 · Cited by 38
Nery, F. G., Li, W., DelBello, M. P., & Welge, J. A. (2021) · Bipolar Disorders · doi:10.1111/bdi.13039 · Cited by 29
Zhu, C., Li, H., Kong, X., Wang, Y., Sun, T., & Wang, F. (2022) · Frontiers in Pharmacology · doi:10.3389/fphar.2022.819470 · Cited by 26
Slattery, J., MacFabe, D., Kahler, S., & Frye, R. (2016) · Current Pharmaceutical Design · doi:10.2174/1381612822666160905123953 · Cited by 20
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Deepmala, Slattery, J., Kumar, N., Delhey, L., Berk, M., Dean, O., Spielholz, C., & Frye, R.
- Affiliations
- Arkansas Children's Hospital (US)
- Barwon Health (AU)
- MaRS (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Deepmala
- Venue
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-08
- Volume
- 55
- Pages
- 294-321
- ISSN
- 0149-7634 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W240506283
- Cited by
- 463
- References
- 218
- Citations by year
- 2026: 28 · 2025: 35 · 2024: 38 · 2023: 38 · 2022: 38 · 2021: 38 · 2020: 49 · 2019: 51 · 2018: 47 · 2017: 50 · 2016: 42 · 2015: 8
- FWCI
- 4.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Deakin Research Online (Deakin University) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Eli Lilly and Company
- Pfizer
- Sanofi
- Geelong Region Medical Research Foundation
- Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative
- Australian Rotary Health
- Beyond Blue
- Servier
- H. Lundbeck A/S
- National Institutes of Health (1059660)
- National Health and Medical Research Council (1078928, 1061043, 1059660)
- Cilag
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biochemistry › Sulfur Compounds in Biology
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology (medical) › Treatment of Major Depression
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Clinical Neurology › Parkinson's Disease Mechanisms and Treatments
- Keywords
- N-acetylcysteine, mental illness, neurological disorders, autism spectrum disorder, Alzheimer's disease, addiction, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, drug-induced neuropathy, progressive myoclonic epilepsy, oxidative stress, neuroinflammation, glutamate dysregulation, dopamine dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, treatment safety
- MeSH terms
- Acetylcysteine, Adolescent, Adult, Mental Disorders, Clinical Trials as Topic, Female, Humans, Male, Nervous System Diseases, Neurology, Psychiatry, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, Treatment Outcome, Young Adult
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
