D-serine is a form of the amino acid serine that acts as a full agonist at the D-serine/glycine site of brain NMDA receptors. It has been studied mainly for schizophrenia.
Also known as: D-serine, dextro-serine.
Placebo-controlled trials used about 2 g a day (about 30 mg/kg); an open-label study tested 30, 60 and 120 mg/kg a day for 4 weeks (Lane 2005, Kantrowitz 2010). These are study protocols, not a recommendation. Schizophrenia treatment should be managed by a prescriber.
We could not find a product labeled as a D-serine dietary supplement in the NIH Dietary Supplement Label Database, so we do not say how it is sold in the US. Drugs@FDA lists no approved D-serine product.
What studies show: in a 6-week placebo-controlled trial in 65 inpatients with acute schizophrenia taking risperidone, D-serine 2 g a day did no better than risperidone alone (Lane 2005). In a 4-week open-label study in 42 people with stable schizophrenia, symptoms improved and thinking scores improved at 60 mg/kg a day or more; with no placebo group, the authors called for double-blind trials at those doses (Kantrowitz 2010).
Safety: a 2021 review found that very high doses (over 500 mg/kg) commonly cause acute kidney damage in rats, but this has not been reported in mice or rabbits. Across all published human studies, one person had abnormal kidney tests linked to D-serine, which returned to normal within days of stopping. The highest dose tested in people is 120 mg/kg (Meftah 2021).
We could not find a single published half-life or time to peak for D-serine that applies to a supplement dose, so we do not list one. In the open-label study, blood D-serine rose with dose (Kantrowitz 2010).
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