Asunto(s)
Estimulantes del Sistema Nervioso Central/efectos adversos , Aberraciones Cromosómicas/inducido químicamente , Daño del ADN , Metilfenidato/efectos adversos , Trastorno por Déficit de Atención con Hiperactividad/tratamiento farmacológico , Carcinógenos , Estimulantes del Sistema Nervioso Central/uso terapéutico , Niño , Determinación de Punto Final , Humanos , Metilfenidato/uso terapéutico , Pruebas de Mutagenicidad , Mutágenos , Neoplasias/inducido químicamente , Reproducibilidad de los Resultados , Proyectos de Investigación , Factores de RiesgoRESUMEN
In recent years there has been a surge in methylphenidate (Ritalin) use for treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. However, there is a paucity of information on whether this drug poses any potential health risks, such as mutagenicity or carcinogenicity, for humans. To address this issue, we investigated whether this central nervous system stimulant produces cytogenetic abnormalities in pediatric patients at therapeutic levels. In a population composed of twelve children treated with therapeutic doses of methylphenidate, we analyzed three cytogenetic endpoints in peripheral blood lymphocytes obtained before and three months after initiation of treatment with this drug. In all participants, treatment induced a significant 3, 4.3 and 2.4-fold increase in chromosome aberrations, sister chromatid exchanges and micronuclei frequencies, respectively (P=0.000 in all cases). These findings warrant further investigations of the possible health effects of methylphenidate in humans, especially in view of the well-documented relationship between elevated frequencies of chromosome aberrations and increased cancer risk.