Double-Blind, Randomized Comparison of Memantine and Escitalopram for the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder Comorbid With Alcohol Dependence

Neurobiological mechanisms in major depressive disorder

“…Other glutamate-modulating agents currently under investigation for treatment of major depressive disorder include memantine and riluzole, and there are others in development. 61,73,74 Finally, there has been a recent interest in drugs targeting other neurotransmitters such as gamma-aminobutyric acid, melatonin and substance P. 70 Studies are underway to advance personalized medicine based on pharmacogenetics. A recent study found no evidence for an effect of the polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene on the clinical response to citalopram (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor).…”

Alcohol abuse and related disorders treatment of alcohol dependence

“…Muhonen и соавт. [16] на основании результатов двойного слепого рандомизированного исследования с уча-стием 80 пациентов сообщают о сопоставимой эффектив-ности мемантина и эсциталопрама (каждого -в дозе 20 мг) в лечении алкогольной зависимости, коморбидной с боль-шим депрессивным расстройством.…”

“…Приведенные и многие другие данные позволяют рас-сматривать мемантин в качестве перспективного средства лечения алкоголизма, а также алкогольной зависимости, коморбидной с депрессией и посттравматическим стрессо-вым расстройством [13,16,17].…”

Depression Viewed as a GABA/Glutamate Imbalance in the Central Nervous System

“…The antidepressant effect of memantine, a low-affinity, uncompetitive open channel NMDA receptor blocker, was observed in treatment-resistant patients with severe depression and comorbid alcohol dependence (Muhonen et al, 2008). However, another clinical study showed no antidepressant effect of memantine in patients suffering from major depression (Zarate et al, 2006).…”