Wang Liang-Jen, Huang Yu-Shu, Hsiao Cheng-Cheng, Chen Chih-Ken
1 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital - Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
2 Department of Child Psychiatry and Sleep center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linko, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
J Atten Disord. 2017 Feb;21(3):254-261. doi: 10.1177/1087054712466139. Epub 2016 Jul 28.
To determine the trend in cortisol levels in children with ADHD treated with methylphenidate (MPH) and nontreated healthy controls over a 6-month period.
The morning salivary cortisol levels of 50 patients with ADHD (40 boys and 10 girls, mean age = 7.6 years) and 50 age- and gender-matched healthy controls were measured at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months from baseline. The neuropsychological performance of the ADHD patients was measured via administration of the Continuous Performance Test.
The cortisol levels of ADHD patients increased significantly after 1 month of MPH treatment before decreasing to an intermediate level, but were significantly positively correlated with neuropsychological performance throughout the 6-month treatment period. The cortisol levels of the controls did not change significantly over the 6-month period.
MPH administration appears to positively influence the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in ADHD patients.
