Possible Antidepressant Effects of Memantine
In an 8-week study of memantine for augmentation of treatment with lamotrigine for bipolar depression, memantine’s effects were not statistically significant. However, during the first four weeks of the study, while memantine doses were slowly increased, memantine was associated with significant improvements on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS).
From the abstract:
This proof-of-concept study failed to show a statistically significant benefit of memantine augmentation of lamotrigine for patients with BD-D over eight weeks. However, memantine had an antidepressant effect early on in the treatment while its dose was being titrated up. Larger placebo-controlled studies are needed to ascertain optimal timing and dosing for memantine augmentation of lamotrigine in BD-D.
