Cited by 109Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive ProcessesMemory and Neural MechanismsPsychotherapy Techniques and Applications

Does D-cycloserine enhance exposure therapy for anxiety disorders in humans? A meta-analysis

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Rodrigues, Helga, Figueira, Ivan, Lopes, Alessandra, Gonçalves, Raquel, Mendlowicz, Mauro Vitor, Coutinho, Evandro Silva Freire, Ventura, Paula·2014·PLoS ONE

Abstract

The treatment of anxiety is on the edge of a new era of combinations of pharmacologic and psychosocial interventions. A new wave of translational research has focused on the use of pharmacological agents as psychotherapy adjuvants using neurobiological insights into the mechanism of the action of certain psychological treatments such as exposure therapy. Recently, d-cycloserine (DCS) an antibiotic used to treat tuberculosis has been applied to enhance exposure-based treatment for anxiety and has proved to be a promising, but as yet unproven intervention. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of DCS in the enhancement of exposure therapy in anxiety disorders. A systematic review/meta-analysis was conducted. Electronic searches were conducted in the databases ISI-Web of Science, Pubmed and PsycINFO. We included only randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with humans, focusing on the role of DCS in enhancing the action of exposure therapy for anxiety disorders. We identified 328 references, 13 studies were included in our final sample: 4 on obsessive-compulsive disorder, 2 on panic disorder, 2 on social anxiety disorder, 2 on posttraumatic stress disorder, one on acrophobia, and 2 on snake phobia. The results of the present meta-analysis show that DCS enhances exposure therapy in the treatment of anxiety disorders (Cohen d = -0.34; CI: -0.54 to -0.14), facilitating the specific process of extinction of fear. DCS seems to be effective when administered at a time close to the exposure therapy, at low doses and a limited number of times. DCS emerges as a potential new therapeutic approach for patients with refractory anxiety disorders that are unresponsive to the conventional treatments available. When administered correctly, DCS is a promising strategy for augmentation of CBT and could reduce health care costs, drop-out rates and bring faster relief to patients.

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  • Early studies on D-cycloserine administration during exposure in vivo for SAD have yielded promising results.

    “For SAD, early studies on D-cycloserine administration during exposure in vivo have yielded promising results (Guastella et al., 2008; Hofmann et al., 2006; Rodrigues et al., 2014)”

    From Virtual Reality exposure therapy in the treatment of public speaking anxiety and social anxiety disorder (2024) · cites this paper as Rodrigues et al., 2014

    The Results (page unavailable) describe two early studies in social anxiety disorder that found greater improvement with D-cycloserine added to exposure therapy. The copy describes their exposure sessions but does not specify that the exposure was in vivo, so that detail is not verified. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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Research works printed but not linked: 1

  1. [66]Gonçalves R, Lages AC, Rodrigues H, Pedrozo AL, Coutinho ESF, et al (2011) Potential biomarkers of cognitive behavior-therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder: a systematic review. Rev Psiq Clín 38 (4): 155– 160.

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Authors
Rodrigues, H., Figueira, I., Lopes, A., Gonçalves, R., Mendlowicz, M. V., Coutinho, E. S. F., & Ventura, P.
Affiliations
  • Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (BR)
  • Universidade Federal Fluminense (BR)
  • Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca (BR)
Corresponding author
Rodrigues, Helga
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2014-07-03
Volume
9
Issue
7
Pages
e93519
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W1980034853
Cited by
109
References
71
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 7 · 2019: 8 · 2018: 14 · 2017: 16 · 2016: 18 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 1
FWCI
2.48
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico
  • Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychotherapy Techniques and Applications
Keywords
D-cycloserine, exposure therapy, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, acrophobia, snake phobia, fear extinction, cognitive behavioral therapy, treatment-resistant anxiety
MeSH terms
Antimetabolites, Anxiety Disorders, Cycloserine, Double-Blind Method, Female, Humans, Male, Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic, PubMed

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