A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Memantine in the Treatment of Major Depression

• DOI: 10.1176/appi.ajp.163.1.153
• Publication Date: 2006-01-03T17:03:00Z
• Authors: Carlos A. Zarate; Jaskaran B. Singh; Jorge A. Quiroz; Georgette De Jesus; Kirk K. Denicoff; David A. Luckenbaugh; Husseini K. Manji; Dennis S. Charney
• Keywords: Memantine; Depression; Placebo-controlled study

OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to assess possible antidepressant effects of memantine, a selective N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist in humans. METHOD: In double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 32 subjects with major depression were randomly assigned receive memantine (5–20 mg/day) (N=16) or placebo for 8 weeks. Primary efficacy assessed by performance on the Montgomery-Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). RESULTS: The linear mixed models total MADRS scores showed no treatment effect. CONCLUSIONS: an 8-week trial, low-to-moderate-affinity NMDA doses 5–20 mg/day not effective depressive disorder.