N-Acetylcysteine in the Treatment of Excoriation Disorder:A Randomized Clinical Trial -

N-Acetylcysteine in the Treatment of Excoriation Disorder:A Randomized Clinical Trial
Information type: Randomised controlled trials
Source: JAMA Psychiatry
Specialities: Mental health and illness | Skin disorders
Summary
12 week RCT in 66 patients with this disabling, underrecognised condition in which they repeatedly pick at their skin, and for which there is no effective treatment, found N-acetylcysteine led to significant reductions in skin-picking symptoms and was well tolerated vs. placebo.
UKMi comment
N-acetylcysteine is an amino acid that appears to restore extracellular glutamate concentration in the nucleus accumbens. These preliminary findings suggest that the glutamate system may prove a beneficial target in treating this condition and other compulsive behaviours.
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