Alzheimer’s Drug May Help Treat TBI

Summary: A new study published in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology reveals a drug currently used to treat dementia may be helpful in the treatment of traumatic brain injury.

Source: Wiley.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability and death globally, but medications have generally failed to benefit patients. A new study found that memantine, a drug that is used to treat dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease, may be a promising therapy.

The study examined the effect of memantine on blood levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), a marker of neuronal damage, and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in patients with moderate TBI. The GCS is the most common scoring system used to describe the level of consciousness in a person following a TBI.

Patients with moderate TBI who received memantine had significantly reduced blood levels of NSE by day 7 and marked improvements in their GCS scores on day 3 of the study.

Image shows a brain.
Patients with moderate TBI who received memantine had significantly reduced blood levels of NSE by day 7 and marked improvements in their GCS scores on day 3 of the study. NeuroscienceNews.com image is for illustrative purposes only.
About this neuroscience research article

Source: Penny Smith – Wiley
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is adapted from the Wiley news release.
Original Research: Abstract for “Effect of Memantine on Serum Levels of Neuron-Specific Enolase and on the Glasgow Coma Scale in Patients With Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury” by Majid Mokhtari MD, FCCP, Hossein Nayeb-Aghaei MD, Mehran Kouchek MD, Mir Mohammad Miri MD, Reza Goharani MD, Arash Amoozandeh MD, Sina Akhavan Salamat PharmD and Mohammad Sistanizad PharmD, PhD in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Published online July 19 2017 doi:10.1002/jcph.980

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Wiley “Alzheimer’s Drug May Help Treat TBI.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 22 July 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/tbi-alzheimers-drug-7148/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Wiley (2017, July 22). Alzheimer’s Drug May Help Treat TBI. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved July 22, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/tbi-alzheimers-drug-7148/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Wiley “Alzheimer’s Drug May Help Treat TBI.” https://neurosciencenews.com/tbi-alzheimers-drug-7148/ (accessed July 22, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Effect of Memantine on Serum Levels of Neuron-Specific Enolase and on the Glasgow Coma Scale in Patients With Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of disability and death globally. Despite significant progress in neuromonitoring and neuroprotection, pharmacological interventions have failed to generate favorable results. We examined the effect of memantine on serum levels of neuron-specific enolase (NSE), a marker of neuronal damage, and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) in patients with moderate TBI. Patients were randomly assigned to the control group (who received standard TBI management) and the treatment group (who, alongside their standard management, received enteral memantine 30 mg twice daily for 7 days). Patients’ clinical data, GCS, findings of head computed tomography, and serum NSE levels were collected during the study. Forty-one patients were randomized into the control and treatment groups, 19 and 22 patients respectively. Baseline characteristics and serum NSE levels were not significantly different between the 2 groups. The mean serum NSE levels for the memantine and the control groups on day 3 were 7.95 ± 2.86 and 12.33 ± 7.09 ng/mL, respectively (P = .05), and on day 7 were 5.03 ± 3.25 and 10.04 ± 5.72 ng/mL, respectively (P = .003). The mean GCS on day 3 was 12.3 ± 2.0 and 10.9 ± 1.9 in the memantine and control groups, respectively (P = .03). Serum NSE levels and GCS changes were negatively correlated (r = −0.368, P = .02). Patients with moderate TBI who received memantine had significantly reduced serum NSE levels by day 7 and marked improvement in their GCS scores on day 3 of the study.

“Effect of Memantine on Serum Levels of Neuron-Specific Enolase and on the Glasgow Coma Scale in Patients With Moderate Traumatic Brain Injury” by Majid Mokhtari MD, FCCP, Hossein Nayeb-Aghaei MD, Mehran Kouchek MD, Mir Mohammad Miri MD, Reza Goharani MD, Arash Amoozandeh MD, Sina Akhavan Salamat PharmD and Mohammad Sistanizad PharmD, PhD in The Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. Published online July 19 2017 doi:10.1002/jcph.980

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  1. I feel that neuroscience research is a wonderful resource for learning and if the general population could be given the enlightenment of this research, it would enable more people to make informed decisions about how essential brain healthy lifestyles are not only for one’s own healthy brain functions, but potentially for generations to come. I just wish I could be more involved in the research and development myself.

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