Trial reportPsychopharmacology2011
Ningdong granule: a complementary and alternative therapy in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Trial report in Psychopharmacology, 2011. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Methylphenidate for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and adolescents - assessment of adverse events in non-randomised studies.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Molecular mechanisms and therapeutic potential of natural products and traditional Chinese medicine formulas in ADHD: a review of preclinical evidence.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
- East Asian traditional medicine for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents: a scoping review.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2025Article
- Rhynchophylline Alleviates Hyperactivity and Cognitive Flexibility Impairment Associated With Inhibition of Inflammatory Responses in Mice That Partly Lack the Dopamine Transporter Protein.Brain and behavior · 2024Article
- Use of Non-Pharmacological Supplementations in Children and Adolescents with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: A Critical Review.Nutrients · 2020Review
- Tourette's disorder in children and adolescents.Translational pediatrics · 2020Review
- Natural Product-Derived Treatments for Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Safety, Efficacy, and Therapeutic Potential of Combination Therapy.Neural plasticity · 2016Review
- Psychiatric Disorders and Polyphenols: Can They Be Helpful in Therapy?Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity · 2015Review
- Herbal medicines for treating tic disorders: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials.Chinese medicine · 2014Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAttention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurobehavioral and neuropsychiatric disorder in school-age children, and recent studies provide evidence implicating the metabolic abnormalities of dopamine (DA) for its pathophysiology. Methylphenidate, a kind of psychostimulant, is widely used in the treatment of ADHD, but some patients do not respond to it or cannot bear its side effects. As a traditional Chinese medicine preparation, Ningdong granule (NDG) has been used in the treatment of ADHD for several years in China. However, a systematical pharmacological study on its safety and mechanism still remains obscure.
objectiveThis paper aims to evaluate the efficiency, safety, and possible mechanism of NDG on ADHD children compared to methylphenidate.
methodsSeventy-two ADHD children were recruited to perform an 8-week, randomized, methylphenidate-controlled, doubled-blinded trial. The subjects were equally assigned to two groups receiving either NDG 5 mg/kg/day or methylphenidate 1 mg/kg/day for 8 weeks. The efficiency was assessed by the Teacher and Parent ADHD Rating Scales every 2 weeks for a total of 8 weeks. The side effects were recorded during the study. Blood, urine, and stool routine samples, liver and renal function test, and DA and homovanillic acid (HVA) concentration in sera were tested at the beginning and end of the trial.
resultsNDG ameliorated ADHD symptoms after an 8-week medication with fewer side effects compared to methylphenidate (P < 0.05). The result also showed NDG to be safe and tolerable for ADHD children as monitored by the blood, urine, and stool analysis and liver and renal function for 8 weeks (P < 0.05). Moreover, the level of HVA in sera increased in NDG-treated group (P < 0.05), while the content of DA had no significant change during the study. An analysis of Pearson correlation coefficients also showed that the increased content of HVA in sera was associated with the improved scores of Teacher and Parent ADHD Rating Scales.
conclusionsCompared to methylphenidate, NDG is effective and safe for ADHD children in the short term, increases the HVA concentration in sera to regulate DA metabolism, and promises to be an alternative medication, safely and effectively.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.