Abstract #1033

Does N-acetylcysteine elevate brain glutathione levels? : a six-months double-blind randomized controlled study

Lijing Xin¹, Philippe Conus², Philipp S. Baumann^2,3, Margot Fournier³, Carina Ferrari^2,3, Luis Alameda^2,3, Raoul Jenni^2,3, Thierry Buclin⁴, Rolf Gruetter^5,6,7, Ralf Mekle⁸, and Kim Q. Do³

¹Animal Imaging and Technology Core (AIT), Center for Biomedical Imaging (CIBM), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ²Service of General Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, ³Unit for Research in Schizophrenia, Center for Psychiatric Neuroscience, Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁴9. Division of clinical pharmacology, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁵Laboratory of Functional and Metabolic Imaging (LIFMET), Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁶Department of Radiology, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland, ⁷Department of Radiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, ⁸2. Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Braunschweig and Berlin, Germany

Dysregulation of the glutathione (GSH) metabolism has been implicated in schizophrenia pathophysiology. Boosting GSH levels by N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a precursor of GSH, was hypothesized to be a neuroprotective treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the supplementation of NAC treatment has an impact on cerebral GSH levels and other metabolites in early psychosis patients using in vivo ¹H MRS. A significant increase of mPFC GSH levels was observed in patients with 6-months NAC treatment, however such increase was absent in placebo group.

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