title: Caffeine improves attention deficit in neonatal 6-OHDA lesioned rats, an animal model of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
abstract: Nowadays the pharmacological treatment of the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is based on amphetamine derivatives (i.e. methylphenidate). However, these drugs induce a large array of adverse side effects, thus less aggressive psychostimulant drugs (i.e. caffeine) are being proposed in the management of ADHD. Following this tendency, we decided to study the possible therapeutic use of caffeine in an animal model of ADHD, namely the neonatal 6-hydroxy-dopamine (6-OHDA)-lesioned rat. Therefore, at postnatal day 7 rats were lesioned at the left striatum with 6-OHDA or with saline. Thereafter, at postnatal day 25 their activity and attention were measured with the Olton maze before caffeine was administered ad libitum in the drinking water. Next, after 14 days of caffeine treatment, we repeated these measurements to assess the effect of caffeine on motor activity and attention deficit. Interestingly, while no changes in the motor activity measurements were observed before and after caffeine administration, a significant improvement in the attention deficit of the 6-OHDA lesioned rats was achieved after caffeine treatment. Thus, our results led us to hypothesize that caffeine might be useful to manage the attention deficit during the prepubertal period of ADHD.
authors.affiliation: Unitat de Farmacologia, Departament de Patologia i Terapèutica Experimental, Facultat de Medicina, Universitat de Barcelona, 08097 L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.forename: Fabiana
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Núñez
authors.forename: Siobhán
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ahern
authors.forename: Maria L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cuffí
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carbonell
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: Víctor
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fernández-Dueñas
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ciruela
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000187:drug effects*; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy*; D002110:Caffeine / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D016627:Oxidopamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D051381:Rats
chemical_list: D000697:Central Nervous System Stimulants; D002110:Caffeine; D016627:Oxidopamine