Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorders
Keywords: Memantine Namenda Autism Spectrum Disorders Pervasive Developmental Disorders Adults
Allocation: NA | Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Enrollment: 25
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The main objective of this study is to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of memantine (Namenda®) for cognitive and behavioral impairment in adults ages 18-50 years with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). This is an exploratory, 12-week, pilot study, seeking to determine whether Namenda is efficacious and well tolerated in the treatment of adults with ASD. The study results will be used to generate hypotheses for a larger randomized controlled clinical trial with explicit hypotheses and sufficient statistical power.

Detailed description:

Arms:
arm 1: None

Interventions: intervention 1: Memantine
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Memantine (Namenda®) was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2003 and by the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medical Products in 2002 for the treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease. Evidence from available treatment trials of memantine in ASD and non-ASD populations of youth and adults strongly suggest that memantine could be an effective agent for the treatment of adults with ASD.

During the 12 weeks of study duration, subjects will be evaluated at weekly intervals for the first 4 weeks and thereafter every 3 weeks. Memantine will be administered in divided dose twice a day in the morning and evening. Titration of study medication will be guided by a forced titration schedule with an option for slower titration or holding at lower dose per clinician judgment. Safety, effectiveness, response and side effects will be evaluated.

Protocol document: