Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Feb 5:9:14.
doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00014. eCollection 2018.

Potential and Challenges for the Clinical Use of d-Serine As a Cognitive Enhancer

Gerson D Guercio  1 , Rogerio Panizzutti  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Potential and Challenges for the Clinical Use of d-Serine As a Cognitive Enhancer

Gerson D Guercio et al. Front Psychiatry. .

Abstract

After 25 years of its discovery in the rat brain, d-serine is a recognized modulator of synaptic plasticity and cognitive processes through its actions on the NMDA-glutamate receptor. Importantly, cognitive impairment is a core feature of conditions, such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, depression, and aging, and is associated to disturbances in NMDA-glutamate receptors. The d-serine pathway has been associated with cognitive deficits and these conditions, and, for this reason, d-serine signaling is subject of intense research to probe its role in aiding diagnosis and therapy. Nevertheless, this has not resulted in new therapies being incorporated into clinical practice. Therefore, in this review we will address many questions that need to be solved by future studies, regarding d-serine pharmacokinetics, possible side effects, other strategies to modulate its levels, and combination with other therapies to increase its efficacy.

Keywords: biomarker; cognitive enhancer; d-amino acid oxidase; glycine; sodium benzoate.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Hashimoto A, Nishikawa T, Hayashi T, Fujii N, Harada K, Oka T, et al. The presence of free D-serine in rat brain. FEBS Lett (1992) 296:33–6.10.1016/0014-5793(92)80397-Y - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hashimoto A, Kumashiro S, Nishikawa T, Oka T, Takahashi K, Mito T, et al. Embryonic development and postnatal changes in free D-aspartate and D-serine in the human prefrontal cortex. J Neurochem (1993) 61:348–51.10.1111/j.1471-4159.1993.tb03575.x - DOI - PubMed
    1. Schell MJ, Brady RO, Jr, Molliver ME, Snyder SH. D-serine as a neuromodulator: regional and developmental localizations in rat brain glia resemble NMDA receptors. J Neurosci (1997) 17:1604–15. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Corrigan JJ. D-amino acids in animals. Science (1969) 164:142–9.10.1126/science.164.3876.142 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Wolosker H, Blackshaw S, Snyder SH. Serine racemase: a glial enzyme synthesizing D-serine to regulate glutamate-N-methyl-D-aspartate neurotransmission. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (1999) 96:13409–14.10.1073/pnas.96.23.13409 - DOI - PMC - PubMed