Comparative study of action mechanisms of dimebon and memantine on AMPA- and NMDA-subtypes glutamate receptors in rat cerebral neurons

Dimebon in low concentrations potentiated activity of AMPA-receptors in rat cerebellar Purkinje neurons, while memantine produced only an insignificant potentiation in a small group of these cells. In cortical neurons of rat brain memantine efficiently blocked NMDA induced currents in dimebon-insensitive neurons. By contrast, its effect was far weaker in neurons, where the blocking action of dimebon on NMDA-receptors was most pronounced. It was hypothesized that the differences in the effects of memantine and dimebon are determined by their interaction with different sites of NMDA-receptors.