Abstract
Memantine is an N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, approved for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We conducted a 4-month observational, post-marketing, Austrian study of memantine in 377 outpatients with moderate to severe AD. In this ‘real-life’ setting, memantine was well-tolerated, and produced benefits in cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination), activities of daily living (Activities of Daily Living score), and global function (Clinical Global Impression scale). Treatment effects were apparent in both pre-treated and treatment-naïve patient subgroups.
References
Atri A, Shaughnessy LW, Locascio JJ, Growdon JH (2008) Long-term course and effectiveness of combination therapy in Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 22(3):209–221
Bakchine S, Loft H (2007) Memantine treatment in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease: results of a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled 6-month study. J Alzheimers Dis 11:471–479
Calabrese P, Essner U, Förstl H (2007) Memantine (Ebixa®) in clinical practice–results of an observational study. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 24:111–117
Doody R, Wirth Y, Schmitt F, Möbius HJ (2004) Specific functional effects of memantine treatment in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 18(2):227–232
Ferris S, Ihl R, Robert P et al (2009) Treatment effects of Memantine on language in moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease patients. Alzheimers Dement 5(5):369–374
Folstein MF, Folstein SE, McHugh PR (1975) “Mini-mental state”. A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. J Psychiat Res 12:189–198
Gauthier S, Wirth Y, Möbius HJ (2005) Effects of memantine on behavioural symptoms in Alzheimer’s disease patients: an analysis of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory (NPI) data of two randomised, controlled studies. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 20(5):459–464
Georges J, Jansen S, Jackson J et al (2008) Alzheimer’s disease in real life–the dementia carer’s survey. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 23:546–551
Herrmann N, Gauthier S (2008) Diagnosis and treatment of dementia: 6. Management of severe Alzheimer disease. CMAJ 179:1279–1287
Hofbauer RK, Saxton J, Woodward M et al (2009) Effects of memantine on functional communication in patients with moderate AD: results of a 12-week placebo-controlled trial. Alzheimers Dement 5(4):256–257
Kornhuber J, Weller M, Schoppmeyer K, Riederer P (1994) Amantadine and memantine are NMDA receptor antagonists with neuroprotective properties. J Neural Transm Suppl 43:91–104
Lopez OL, Becker JT, Wahed AS et al (2009) Long-term effects of the concomitant use of memantine with cholinesterase inhibition in Alzheimer disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 80(6):600–607
McKhann G, Drachman D, Folstein M et al (1984) Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease: report of the NINCDS-ADRDA Work Group under the auspices of Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Alzheimer’s Disease. Neurology 34:939–944
Mecocci P, Bladstrom A, Stender K (2009) Effects of memantine on cognition in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease: post-hoc analyses of ADAS-cog and SIB total and single-item scores from six randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 24(5):532–538
Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH (August 2007) Axura® Tablets. Summary of Product Characteristics (SPC)
National Institute for Mental Health (1976) 028 CGI: clinical global impressions. In: Guy W (ed) ECDEU assessment manual for psychopharmacology. Rockville, USA
Peskind ER, Potkin SG, Pomara N et al (2006) Memantine treatment in mild to moderate Alzheimer disease: a 24-week randomized, controlled trial. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 14:704–715
Porsteinsson AP, Grossberg GT, Mintzer J et al (2008) Memantine treatment in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease already receiving cholinesterase inhibitor: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Curr Alzheimer Res 5:83–89
Reisberg B, Schneider L, Doody R et al (1997) Clinical global measures of dementia Position paper from the International Working Group on Harmonization of Dementia Drug Guidelines. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 11(Suppl 3):S8–S18
Reisberg B, Doody R, Stöffler A et al (2003) Memantine in moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s disease. N Engl J Med 348:1333–1341
Suh GH, Ju YS, Yeon BK, Shah A (2004) A longitudinal study of Alzheimer’s disease: rates of cognitive and functional decline. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry 19(9):817–824
Tariot PN, Farlow MR, Grossberg GT et al (2004) Memantine treatment in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer disease already receiving donepezil. A randomized controlled trial. JAMA 291:317–324
van Dyck CH, Tariot PN, Meyers B, Resnick ME, MemantineMEM-MD-01 Study Group (2007) A 24-week randomized, controlled trial of memantine in patients with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer disease. Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 21:136–143
Wilkinson D, Andersen HF (2007) Analysis of the effect of memantine in reducing the worsening of clinical symptoms in patients with moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 24:138–145
Winblad B, Jones RW, Wirth Y et al (2007) Memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease: a meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials. Dement Geriatr Cogn Disord 24:20–27
Acknowledgments
This work was supported by a grant from Merz Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Germany.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rainer, M., Wuschitz, A., Jagsch, C. et al. Memantine in moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease: an observational post-marketing study. J Neural Transm 118, 1255–1259 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-011-0623-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-011-0623-8