Antimanic and Long-Lasting Mood Stabilizing Effect of Memantine in Bipolar I Mood Disorder Two Case Reports

We recently reported that memantine, a noncompetitiveN-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist currently used in the treatment of Alzheimer disease, has a significant antimanic and sustained moodstabilizing effect when used as an augmenting agent in treatment-resistant bipolar mood disorders. Moreover, has been observed an acute antimanic effect of memantine monotherapy in manic patients with bipolar type I disorder (BP I). We report 2 case histories of patients with BP I successfully treated with memantine monotherapy. These 2 cases confirm that, also as a monotherapy, the drug has an acute antimanic effect.