[New therapeutic options in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder]

The most frequently used pharmacological treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) over the last few decades has been methylphenidate. Although methylphenidate is still one of the first choices in the treatment of ADHD, new alternatives have appeared with the intention of improving on some of its drawbacks.

The work being carried out on the development of drugs that may be an alternative to methylphenidate is centred on two main lines. On the one hand, preparations have been developed that allow the sustained release of methylphenidate by means of the SODAS and OROS techniques and these have allowed us to obtain methylphenidate preparations that only require a single daily dose. As an alternative to stimulants, other drugs have been studied that act by means of different mechanisms and which have proved to be quite effective in ADHD. Another recent arrival has been atomoxetine, a new drug with a noradrenergic action that was designed specifically for the treatment of ADHD. In this paper, we describe the neuropharmacological bases of these drugs, and the mechanisms of action and possible indications of each of them are also discussed.