Psychiatry Investig.  2012 Jun;9(2):166-173.

Adjunctive Memantine Therapy for Cognitive Impairment in Chronic Schizophrenia: A Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Haeundae Paik Hospital, College of Medicine and Paik Institute for Clinical Research, Inje University, Busan, Korea.
  • 2Department of Psychiatry, Jamyung Hospital, Busan, Korea.
  • 3Department of Psychiatry, Haeundae Paik Hospital, College of Medicine, Inje University, Busan, Korea.
  • 4Department of Neuroscience Research, Paik Institute for Clinical Research, Inje University, Busan, Korea.
  • 5Department of Psychiatry, Haeundae Paik Hospital, School of Medicine and Paik Institute for Clinical Research, FIRST Research Group, Inje University, Busan, Korea. npkyh@chol.com

Abstract


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the effects of memantine, an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, on cognitive impairments in patients with chronic schizophrenia.
METHODS
A 12-week, placebo-controlled trial was conducted to determine the effectiveness of memantine as an adjunctive treatment with conventional antipsychotic medications in 26 patients with chronic schizophrenia. The subjects were evaluated with the Korean version of the Mini-Mental State Examination (K-MMSE), the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D), and a standard neuropsychological screening test.
RESULTS
Memantine treatment was not associated with significantly improved cognitive test scores compared with the placebo control treatment. An improvement in the scores on the PANSS negative subscale was noted with memantine, but it was not significant.
CONCLUSION
Adjunctive memantine treatment did not improve cognitive functioning or affect psychopathology in patients with chronic schizophrenia in the present study. Memantine, however, was tolerated well and did not exacerbate positive symptoms in patients with chronic schizophrenia.

Keyword

Memantine; Cognition; Antipsychotic drugs; Schizophrenia; Tolerability

MeSH Terms

Antipsychotic Agents
Cognition
Depression
Humans
Mass Screening
Memantine
N-Methylaspartate
Pilot Projects
Psychopathology
Schizophrenia
Antipsychotic Agents
Memantine
N-Methylaspartate
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