The role of Memantine in slowing cognitive decline in patients with Down syndrome–A systematic review and meta analysis

Abstract

Background: Memantine, an NMDA antagonist, has shown to be an effective and well-tolerated pharmacological therapy for the reduction of cognitive decline in the general population with Alzheimer's disease. Individuals with Down syndrome (trisomy 21) have higher rates of cognitive decline than the general population in addition to a greatly increased risk for the development of early-onset Alzheimer's disease. The potential efficacy of Memantine as a therapy for cognitive improvement in DS patients is not well understood. Objective: To assess the effectiveness of Memantine in comparison to placebo as a pharmacological therapy for patients with Down syndrome. Search strategy: Multiple databases including Pubmed, CENTRAL, CDSR, and clinicaltrials.gov were searched with terms including “Memantine Hydrochloride” and “Trisomy 21.” Selection criteria: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials measuring tolerability, efficacy, and safety of memantine in DS patients were used. Three (3) studies were ultimately included. Data collection and analysis: Standard Mean Difference (SMD), Odds Ratio (OR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to assess the significance of intervention. Main results: No statistically significant therapeutic effect was found upon administration of Memantine relative to placebo in DS patients.

Keywords

• Memantine hydrochloride
• Memantine
• NMDA antagonist
• Down Syndrome
• Cognitive function
• Alzheimer's disease