Catherine E Creeley, David F Wozniak, Anthony Nardi, Nuri B Farber, John W Olney
The NMDA antagonist, memantine (Namenda), and the cholinesterase inhibitor, donepezil (Aricept), are currently being used widely, either individually or in combination, for treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD). NMDA antagonists have both neuroprotective and neurotoxic properties; the latter is augmented by drugs, such as pilocarpine, that increase cholinergic activity. Whether donepezil, by increasing cholinergic activity, might augment memantine's neurotoxic potential has not been investigated. In the present study, we determined that a dose of memantine (20mg/kg, i...
February 2008: Neurobiology of Aging