Kynurenic acid

2 papers2 findings

C, W, M, H: cells, worms or flies, mice, humans. Dark: independent labs found the same change there. Light: one lab or one study. Outline: nothing yet.

Labs are independent when their papers share no last author and no institution.

Against: findings that point the other way from most findings on the same outcome.

On aging: the drug’s trials ARN judged to be about aging, of every trial that tests it for any use.

No results posted: trials that ended more than a year ago with no results on ClinicalTrials.gov and no paper in ARN’s record.

Company ties: findings with an author at a company, or from a paper whose competing-interests statement declares ties to one.

1 lab in 1 country

Funders: National Institute on Aging and 1 more

Animals1

Outcomes

Cognitive function

downin Macaca1

1 study

Kynurenic acid impairs cognitive function in Macaca.
“Systemic administration of agents that reduce KYNA production similarly improved cognitive performance in aged monkeys.”
Animals
Kynurenic acid signaling expands in human and nonhuman primates and impairs dorsolateral prefrontal cortical cognition that is key to mental illness
Molecular psychiatry19 Dec 2025

Working memory-related dlPFC neuronal firing

downin Macaca1

1 study

Kynurenic acid decreases working memory-related dlPFC neuronal firing in Macaca.
“Local application of KYNA onto dlPFC neurons markedly reduced the delay-related firing needed for working memory via actions at NMDA and nic-α7Rs”
Animalsnaturally-occurring neuroinflammationdorsolateral prefrontal cortex
Kynurenic acid signaling expands in human and nonhuman primates and impairs dorsolateral prefrontal cortical cognition that is key to mental illness
Molecular psychiatry19 Dec 2025