Description
Summary
Table of Contents
Sarcosine, is a non-protein natural amino acid present as an intermediate during the stages of glycine synthesis and degradation [1,2] Sarcosine is broken down through action of sarcosine dehydrogenase to glycine. [2]
Benefits & side effects
Schizophrenia
Sarcosine was shown to benefit patients with long-term stable disease and also those individuals with schizophrenia [3].
Sarcosine on toluene-induced motor incoordination and recognition memory impairment and body temperature showed sarcosine alleviated the ‘block’ that toluene exhibits on the NMDA receptor [4].
Prostate cancer biomarker
Sarcosine has been shown to be implemented in prostate cancer; as a prostate cancer metabolome analysis revealed that sarcosine was elevated in metastatic prostate cancer [5].
Antidepressant effects
A single dose of sarcosine injected into animals demonstrated the anti-depressant effects of sarcosine as enhancing the AMPA receptor [6] No research has linked sarcosine to anxiety or social anxiety, and this should not be concluded from sarcosine’s role in depression.
Sarcosine and Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD)
Sarcosine treatment for 10 weeks in individuals with OCD found a significantly reduced Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive score [7, 8].
Sarcosine and ADHD
A six-week clinical trial pilot study of sarcosine, aimed at evaluating the efficacy of sarcosine in treating children with ADHD. Researchers concluded that sarcosine might possibly be an agent for treating ODD in an ADHD context [9].
Memory and Learning
Sarcosine and D-serine were documented, in a schizophrenia context, as enhancing social memory in naive rats [10] More research is necessary to fully evaluate sarcosine’s role in memory.
Sarcosine Vs D-Serine
Comparisons of D-serine and sarcosine have shown that sarcosine treatment in patients with chronic schizophrenia is superior to that of D-serine. [11,12].
Sarcosine Vs Ketamine
Sarcosine has been compared to ketamine. Results have shown that N,N-dimethylglycine (DMG) – which is a safe and non-toxic [13] precursor of sarcosine reverses ketamine-induced psycho-mimetic behaviors.
Sarcosine and/or glycine
Glycine ‘docks’ along the NMDA receptor just as sarcosine does. Results have shown that sarcosine is a strong ‘agonist’ candidate that also binds to the same sites of the NMDA receptor [14].
Sarcosine and cyanamide
Sarcosine and cyanamide both work together to form creatine [15, 16]. Creatine can provide energy requirements for vigorous muscle contraction, including improving physical performance. [17]
Sarcosine side-effects
The rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder, sarcosenemia, has been considered a harmless effect [18].
Dosage
Dosages of 2 and 4 grams/day [19] been described as being tolerable. In addition, no significant events or abnormalities were observed over a week [19].
Other work has described sarcosine at a dosage of 2 grams per day as being well tolerated [20]. A double-blind study showed daily dosages of 1 and 2 grams of sarcosine, over 6-weeks showed minimal side effects and was well tolerated [21].
Stacks
Experiments on evaluating what sarcosine can be supplemented with (stacked) have not been confirmed. Literature on ‘stacks’ has not been fully established, and one should not confuse D-serine and/or glycine – or any other structurally similar metabolites – as potential stacks with sarcosine.
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