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Trichotillomania is a greatly underrecognized, poorly understood disorder characterized by alopecia caused by hair pulling. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, clomipramine, and behavioral modification have been used but with mixed success.
Glutamatergic dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of obsessive-compulsive disorder, a disease with a suggested neurobiological link to trichotillomania. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is an amino acid that modulates the glutamatergic pathway by increasing extracellular glutamate in the nucleus accumbens. NAC has been previously shown to decrease compulsive gambling and cocaine addiction.
Investigators performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled study of NAC treatment for trichotillomania. Fif…