Comparative Pharmacology
Head-to-head clinical analysis: ADDERALL 30 versus METADATE ER.
Peer-Reviewed Evidence
Head-to-head clinical analysis: ADDERALL 30 versus METADATE ER.
ADDERALL 30 vs METADATE ER
Comparing the clinical profiles, pharmacokinetic behaviors, and safety indices of these two therapeutic agents.
Adderall contains mixed amphetamine salts that increase synaptic levels of dopamine and norepinephrine by inhibiting their reuptake and promoting release from presynaptic terminals.
Methylphenidate is a central nervous system stimulant that inhibits the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine into presynaptic neurons, increasing their concentrations in the synaptic cleft. It also acts as a weak agonist at serotonin receptors.
Initial: 5 mg orally once or twice daily; increase by 5 mg increments weekly; usual maintenance: 20-30 mg daily in divided doses; maximum: 40 mg/day
Initial: 10-20 mg orally once daily in the morning. May increase by 10-20 mg at weekly intervals. Maximum: 60 mg/day.
None Documented
None Documented
Terminal elimination half-life: d-amphetamine 10-13 hours, l-amphetamine 13-15 hours; in adults (children: 6-8 hours). The longer half-life allows for once-daily dosing.
Terminal elimination half-life: 3-6 hours (mean 4.5 hours) for methylphenidate; clinical context: requires multiple daily dosing or extended-release formulation.
Approximately 30-40% of a dose is excreted unchanged in urine; the remainder is metabolized primarily by oxidative deamination and aromatic hydroxylation. Biliary/fecal elimination accounts for less than 5%.
Renal (80% as metabolites, <1% unchanged); fecal (10-20%) via biliary elimination.
Category C
Category C
CNS Stimulant
CNS Stimulant