Study of the Effect of Memantine on Negative Sign in Patients with Schizophrenia and Schizoaffective Disorders

Memantine, an uncompetitive antagonist of glutamate receptor of the N-methyl-D-aspartate type is approved for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer disease (1). A growing body of evidence supports a link between the glutamatergic neurotransmission and schizophrenia (2). The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy and safety of memantine as an adjunctive treatment for antipsychotics in patient with psychopathology of schizophrenia and schizoaffective. In this study, we assessed the effect of memantine on the pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL6, TNFα and CRP. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, participants were assigned to receive (5-20 mg/day) memantine (n = 29) or placebo (n = 29), in addition to continuing treatment with antipsychotic for 12 weeks. The primary efficacy measure was the level of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFA, IL6, CRP). Safety was assessed by means of physical examination, clinical laboratory evaluation, recording of adverse event (AEs), and measure of extrapyramidal symptoms. At end point, comparison of biomarkers (IL6, TNFα and CRP) in two groups before and after treatment showed a significant decrease of TNFα (P < 0.001), but the difference was not significant in CRP and IL6 level (p = 0.92 and p = 0.77, respectively). The frequency of serious AEs in the memantine vs. placebo group was similar.