Clinical trial NCT03553875: Memantine for the Treatment of Social Deficits in Youth with Disorders of Impaired Social Interactions
Official title: Memantine for the Treatment of Social Deficits in Youth with Disorders of Impaired Social Interactions: a Randomized-controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: SUSPENDED
Phase: PHASE3
Conditions: Autism
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Nonverbal Learning Disability
Keywords: Autism
Massachusetts General Hospital
Lead sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2018-06-12
Enrollment: 100
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 8
Maximum age (years): 18
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: This study is a 12-week randomized-controlled trial of memantine hydrochloride (Namenda) for the treatment of social impairment in youth with Non-Verbal Learning Disorder, High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder, and related conditions. Eligible participants will be males and females ages 8-18.

This study consists of up to 6 visits to Massachusetts General Hospital.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Male \& female subjects ages 8-18 years (inclusive).
* Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM)-5 Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnostic criteria as established by clinical diagnostic interview
* At least moderate severity of social impairment as measured by a total raw score of ≥85 on the parent/guardian-completed Social Responsiveness Scale-Second Edition (SRS-2)14 and a score of ≥4 on the clinician-administered Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale (CGI-S)17.

Exclusion Criteria:

* IQ ≤70 based on the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence-II (WASI-II) Vocabulary and Matrix Reasoning subtests
* Impaired communicative speech
* Subjects currently treated with the following medications (known to impact glutamate levels): Lamotrigine, Amantadine, N-acetylcysteine, D-cycloserine
* Subjects treated with a psychotropic medication not listed above on a dose that has not been stable for at least 4 weeks prior to study baseline.
* Co-administration of drugs that compete with memantine for renal elimination using the same renal cationic system, including hydrochlorothiazide, triamterene, metformin, cimetidine, ranitidine, quinidine, and nicotine
* Initiation of a new psychosocial intervention within 30 days prior to randomization.
* Subjects who are pregnant and/or nursing.
* Subjects with a history of non-febrile seizures without a clear and resolved etiology.
* Subjects with a history of or a current liver or kidney disease.
* Clinically unstable psychiatric conditions or judged to be at serious suicidal risk.
* Subjects who meet on the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS-E) for alcohol or drug dependence or abuse. If the subject has a recent history of substance abuse, there will be a two-week washout period before initiating the trial as an added precaution. There are no known safety issues relating to memantine and recent history of substance abuse.
* Serious, stable or unstable systemic illness including hepatic, renal, gastroenterological, respiratory, cardiovascular (including ischemic heart disease), endocrinologic, neurologic, immunologic, or hematologic disease.
* Subjects with severe hepatic impairment (LFTs \> 3 times ULN).
* Subjects with genitourinary conditions that raise urine pH (e.g., renal tubular acidosis, severe infection of the urinary tract).
* Known hypersensitivity to memantine.
* Severe allergies or multiple adverse drug reactions.
* A history of intolerance or adequate exposure to memantine, as determined by the clinician.
* Investigator and his/her immediate family defined as the investigator's spouse, parent, child, grandparent, or grandchild.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Clinical Global Impression-Improvement Scale (CGI-I)
timeFrame: Baseline to 12 weeks
Secondary outcomes:
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Boston
country: United States
facility: Massachusetts General Hospital
state: Massachusetts
Study officials:
affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital
name: Gagan Joshi, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Brignell A, Marraffa C, Williams K, May T. Memantine for autism spectrum disorder. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022 Aug 25;8(8):CD013845. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD013845.pub2.