A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Trial of d-Cycloserine to Enhance Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Biological Psychiatry, 04/16/2012
Clinical Article
De Kleine RA et al. – The present study found preliminary support for the augmentation of exposure therapy with d–cycloserine (DCS), specifically for patients with more severe Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) needing longer treatment.
Methods- In a randomized, double–blind, placebo–controlled trial the authors administered 50 mg DCS or placebo 1 hour before each exposure session to 67 mixed trauma patients, recruited from regular referrals, with a primary PTSD diagnosis satisfying DSM–IV criteria.
- Although DCS did not enhance overall treatment effects, the participants having received DCS did show a stronger treatment response.
- Exploratory session–by–session analyses revealed that DCS yielded higher symptom reduction in those participants that had more severe pretreatment PTSD and needed longer treatment.
