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The Role of Memantine in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders Other Than the Dementias

A Review of Current Preclinical and Clinical Evidence

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Abstract

Memantine, a non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist approved for Alzheimer’s disease with a good safety profile, is increasingly being studied in a variety of non-dementia psychiatric disorders. We aimed to critically review relevant literature on the use of the drug in such disorders. We performed a PubMed search of the effects of memantine in animal models of psychiatric disorders and its effects in human studies of specific psychiatric disorders. The bulk of the data relates to the effects of memantine in major depressive disorder and schizophrenia, although more recent studies have provided data on the use of the drug in bipolar disorder as an add-on. Despite interesting preclinical data, results in major depression are not encouraging. Animal studies investigating the possible usefulness of memantine in schizophrenia are controversial; however, interesting findings were obtained in open studies of schizophrenia, but negative placebo-controlled, double-blind studies cast doubt on their validity. The effects of memantine in anxiety disorders have been poorly investigated, but data indicate that the use of the drug in obsessive-compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder holds promise, while findings relating to generalized anxiety disorder are rather disappointing. Results in eating disorders, catatonia, impulse control disorders (pathological gambling), substance and alcohol abuse/dependence, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder are inconclusive. In most psychiatric non-Alzheimer’s disease conditions, the clinical data fail to support the usefulness of memantine as monotherapy or add-on treatment However, recent preclinical and clinical findings suggest that add-on memantine may show antimanic and mood-stabilizing effects in treatment-resistant bipolar disorder.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the Librarians of the School of Medicine and Psychology of Sapienza University, Drs Mimma Ariano, Felicia Proietti and Tiziana Mattei, for helping us in the identification of relevant literature.

In the past 3 years, Paolo Girardi has received research support from Lilly and Janssen, has participated in Advisory Boards for Lilly, Organon, Pfizer and Schering and received honoraria from Lilly and Organon. Giorgio D. Kotzalidis is the recipient of a PhD grant from the Italian Ministry of Education for Early Interventions in the Psychoses. All other authors of this paper have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in, or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties. No funding source was used to prepare this review.

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  1. NeSMOS Department (Neurosciences, Mental Health, and Sensory Organs), School of Medicine and Psychology, Sapienza University, UOC Psychiatry, Sant’Andrea Hospital, Via di Grottarossa 1035-1039, 00189, Rome, Italy

    Gabriele Sani, Giulia Serra, Giorgio D. Kotzalidis, Silvia Romano, Stefano M. Tamorri, Giovanni Manfredi, Matteo Caloro, C. Ludovica Telesforo, Saverio S. Caltagirone, Isabella Panaccione, Alessio Simonetti & Paolo Girardi

  2. Centro Lucio Bini, Rome, Italy

    Gabriele Sani & Alessio Simonetti

  3. Department of Biomedical Sciences, Sassari University, Sassari, Italy

    Francesca Demontis & Gino Serra

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Correspondence to Gabriele Sani.

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Sani, G., Serra, G., Kotzalidis, G.D. et al. The Role of Memantine in the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders Other Than the Dementias. CNS Drugs 26, 663–690 (2012). https://doi.org/10.2165/11634390-000000000-00000

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  1. Giulia Serra View author profile
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