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TerminatedNCT00283309Updated Apr 23, 2013

Memantine or Riluzole Prophylaxis for Corticosteroid-induced Mood and Declarative Memory Changes

A Phase 4 interventional study of Memantine and Riluzole in Mood and Memory Deficit, sponsored by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Terminated at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2013-04-23.

Sponsored by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center · Phase 4, Interventional, and Treatment

Why this study was terminated
Study finished enrollment but data was never sent for publishing.
Phase
Phase 4
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
20
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

The primary purpose is to determine if patients scheduled to receive prescription corticosteroid therapy for inflammatory illnesses who are given either memantine or riluzole pretreatment will show lesser declarative memory impairment than those receiving placebo.

The exploratory purpose is to determine if patients scheduled to receive prescription corticosteroid therapy for inflammatory illnesses who are given memantine or riluzole pretreatment will show a smaller increase in manic/hypomanic symptom severity than those receiving placebo.

Read the detailed description

Twenty five (25) outpatients with pulmonary (e.g. asthma, cystic fibrosis) or rheumatic (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, dermatomyositis) illnesses scheduled to receive a brief course ("burst") of prednisone will be enrolled. The subjects will be randomized to receive memantine, riluzole or placebo beginning immediately prior to the corticosteroid therapy and continuing for one week. Measures of cognition and mood will be compared between the two groups at baseline, day 3, and day 7.

Demographic information including age, gender, frequency and duration of prior corticosteroid therapy and current anticipated dose and duration will be collected at baseline. Baseline measures of mood will be assessed with the Activation subscale of the Internal State Scale (ISS) (primary measure), Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (17-item version), and Young Mania Rating Scale (YMRS). Cognition will be assessed with the RAVLT (primary measure), Stroop, and Digit Span Backwards. The subjects will be given memantine (10 mg), riluzole (50 mg), or identical appearing placebo 1 tablet daily for 3 days and then at the first follow up appointment (day 3) the dose will be increased to BID if no side effects are reported. The subjects will be reassessed twice, at day 3 and day 7. Mood and cognitive measures will be repeated. The study visits will last approximately an hour and a half. Participants will discontinue memantine when they discontinue prednisone. The RA administering assessments will be blinded at all times. Alternative but equivalent versions of the RAVLT and Digit Span Backwards will be given to minimize practice or learning effects. Current and cumulative corticosteroid dose (mg each day X number of days) will be determined and recorded.

HVLT-R test total words recalled scores will be compared between baseline and exit of the active medication phase and placebo phase using a within subjects design and paired t-tests. Based on our prior experience working with corticosteroid-dependent patients we have found them to be very compliant with clinical treatment. Thus, we do not anticipate large numbers of dropouts or missing data. In the case of missing data we will use the last observation carried forward. In our lamotrigine study in a similar population, we found a change in total words recalled on a word list and on the Stroop. Assuming a similar change with memantine, using double-sided, paired t-tests, we could detect a difference with a change in the placebo group with participants on the HVLT-R and up to with participants on the Stroop. Thus, although this is primarily a pilot study to obtain effect sizes for future, larger trials funded by NIH, it should have power to detect clinically meaningful differences between medication and placebo.

02

Conditions studied

  • Mood
  • Memory Deficit

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Keywords

  • Corticosteroids
  • Riluzole
  • Memantine
  • Memory
03

In context

Memory Disorders

260 studies on the registry are indexed under Memory Disorders; 60 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 20 is below the median of 73 across 207 interventional studies indexed under Memory Disorders.

Browse Memory Disorders studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 990 studies on the registry; 201 are open to participants now.

Of its 135 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 100 (74%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • 18-70 years old
  • English speaking
  • Able to provide informed consent
  • Scheduled to receive a corticosteroid burst of at least 20 mg prednisone or equivalent for at least 7 days

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of allergic reaction to memantine and/or riluzole
  • Pregnant or nursing women
  • History of liver disease, myocardial infarction, renal failure, diabetes with poor glycemic control, or other unstable medical condition
  • Mental retardation, dementia, or other severe cognitive disorder
  • Prior prednisone therapy in the last 14 days
  • Current alcohol/substance abuse/dependence
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Study design

Phase
Phase 4
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Crossover assignment
Masking
Quadruple (Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
20 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Memantine

    Memantine is used to determine if patients given pretreatment to corticosteroid therapy for inflammatory illnesses will show lesser declarative memory impairment than those receiving placebo. Baseline 10mg x 3 days, then 10mg BID x 4 days.

    Drug: Memantine

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Inactive ingredient matching the active medication in appearance

    Drug: Memantine · Drug: Riluzole

  • Active comparator
    Riluzole

    Riluzole is given to patients receiving corticosteroid therapy for inflammatory illnesses pretreatment to determine if they show lesser declarative memory impairment than those receiving placebo. Baseline 50mg x 3 days, then 50mg BID x 4 days.

    Drug: Riluzole

Interventions

  • DrugMemantine
  • DrugRiluzole
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Study locations

1 site
  • UT Southwestern
    Dallas, Texas 75390, United States
07

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 23, 2013, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00283309
Lead sponsor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Responsible party
Sherwood Brown (Principal Investigator, MD/PhD, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jan 27, 2006
Start date
Nov 2005
Primary completion
Apr 2007
Completion
Apr 2007
Last update
Apr 23, 2013

Study contacts

Sherwood Brown
principal investigator · University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is terminated, as verified in Apr 2013. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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