A Randomized Controlled Trial of Acetazolamide for Patients With Treatment Resistant Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia (SZ) afflicts over 21 million people worldwide. Persons with SZ have a 10% suicide rate and their lifespan is curtailed by over 25 years. There is an urgent need for efficacious antipsychotic drugs (APDs), particularly, second line drugs, because only 30-40% of APD-treated patients attain remission and 30% of patients show little or no response. Currently, Clozapine is the only reliable second line APD, but it can cause serious blood dyscrasias. To fill the void, the investigators have conducted systematic reviews of prior data and in silico searches. In a prior double-blind crossover randomized placebo-controlled trial (RCT), adjunctive Acetazolamide (ACZ) caused ~20% improvement in positive and negative symptom scores when added to APDs among partially-responsive patients with SZ (ACZ 2G/day). No patients dropped out. The RCT is supported by several other open trials. ACZ also reduces weight, thus it could combat weight gain, a common APD side effect. Independently, our systematic in silico strategy based on protein networks and gene expression profiles also identified Acetazolamide (ACZ) as a repurposable drug for SZ.

ACZ crosses the blood-brain barrier. It is used to treat CNS diseases such as refractory seizures and idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Used for over 50 years, its side effects (SE) and adverse effects (AE) are well known and are manageable. It is a potent, specific inhibitor of carbonic anhydrase (CA), which catalyzes the conversion of CO2 to HCO3- and H+. CA is localized to pre-synaptic terminals and glial cells. It modulates GABAergic excitation, long-term synaptic transformation, attentional gating of memory storage and cerebrospinal fluid formation. Post-mortem brain and serological studies show raised CA levels in patients with psychotic/mood disorders. Several APDs also inhibit CA. The investigators thus postulate brain CA inhibition as the therapeutic target for ACZ in SZ.

The investigators propose a double-blind, crossover RCT for SZ using adjunctive ACZ. To maximize the risk/benefit ratio, the investigators will enroll inpatients and outpatients with treatment resistant SZ (trSZ) who meet defined criteria (N=60 RCT completers). ACZ or placebo will be added to prescribed APDs for 8 weeks utilizing the Sequential Parallel Comparison Design to maximize power. The investigators have extensive experience with RCTs. The investigators will ensure timely recruitment by approaching a large group of patients we serve, across 2 sites. If ACZ is beneficial, in future studies the investigators will pursue its implementation for trSZ, and seek variables associated with treatment response.