BACKGROUND Diabetes patients frequently experience diabetic neuropathy (DN), a microvascular complication that significantly reduces patients' quality of life. Memantine has demonstrated potential benefits for neuropathic pains in preclinical studies. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of memantine in the management of peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHOD This randomized clinical trial includes 143 diabetic patients (aged between 18 and 75 years) with a confirmed diagnosis of diabetic neuropathy. Patients were randomly assigned to receive memantine 5 mg twice daily for 1 week, followed by 10 mg twice daily plus gabapentin 300 mg daily (n = 72) or just gabapentin 300 mg daily (n = 71) for 8 weeks. The DN4 questionnaire, monofilament, tuning fork, and Tip-therm tests were used to measure neuropathy at baseline and after the 8-week intervention. RESULTS The mean score of the DN4 questionnaire in the memantine group was significantly lower than the control group (p. value: .001). The number of patients with diabetic neuropathy remarkably decreased in the memantine group at the end of the study based on the performed tests (p. value: .001). CONCLUSION Memantine functions as a beneficial agent in the management of diabetic neuropathy, which would significantly improve the quality of life in diabetic patients.

中文翻译：

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美金刚治疗糖尿病神经病变：一项随机临床试验。

背景技术糖尿病患者经常经历糖尿病神经病变(DN)，这是一种显着降低患者生活质量的微血管并发症。在临床前研究中，美金刚已证明对神经性疼痛具有潜在益处。本研究旨在评估美金刚治疗 2 型糖尿病 (T2DM) 患者周围神经病变的疗效。方法 这项随机临床试验包括 143 名确诊为糖尿病神经病变的糖尿病患者（年龄在 18 至 75 岁之间）。患者被随机分配接受美金刚 5 mg 每天两次，持续 1 周，然后是 10 mg 每天两次加加巴喷丁 300 mg 每天 (n = 72) 或仅加巴喷丁 300 mg 每天 (n = 71)，持续 8 周。使用 DN4 问卷、单丝、音叉和 Tip-therm 测试来测量基线和 8 周干预后的神经病变。结果 美金刚组 DN4 问卷的平均得分显着低于对照组（p 值：0.001）。根据所进行的测试，在研究结束时，美金刚组中患有糖尿病神经病变的患者数量显着减少（p 值：0.001）。结论 美金刚是治疗糖尿病神经病变的有益药物，可显着改善糖尿病患者的生活质量。