ReviewFrontiers in neurology2013
Modafinil as a catecholaminergic agent: empirical evidence and unanswered questions.
Review in Frontiers in neurology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 2 of them syntheses 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
38 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 84 citations in OpenAlex.
- Repurposing of modafinil as an anti-inflammatory drug: a systematic review of experimental studies.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- The use of modafinil for the treatment of fatigue in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials.Brain and behavior · 2024Pooled it
- Trial
- A randomized study of solriamfetol for excessive sleepiness in narcolepsy.Annals of neurology · 2019Trial
- Effect of Oral JZP-110 (ADX-N05) on Wakefulness and Sleepiness in Adults with Narcolepsy: A Phase 2b Study.Sleep · 2016Trial
- Pathophysiological mechanisms of fatigue and multidisciplinary management strategies (Review).Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2026Review
- Modafinil and abnormal bleeding in a young lady with narcolepsy: a case report.Frontiers in drug safety and regulation · 2026Article
- Modafinil for Promoting Wakefulness in Critically Ill Patients: Current Evidence and Perspectives.Clocks & sleep · 2025Review
- Modafinil Ameliorated Fibromyalgia Syndrome in Rats by Modulating Mast Cells and Microglia Activation Through Dopamine/Substance P/MRGPRX/Histamine and PI3K/p-Akt/NF-κB Signaling Pathways.Journal of neuroimmune pharmacology : the official journal of the Society on NeuroImmune Pharmacology · 2025Article
- Functional neuroanatomy of dopaminergic arousal systems: implications for the wake-promoting effect of psychostimulants, with particular reference to modafinil.Frontiers in neuroanatomy · 2025Review
- Exploring β-caryophyllene: a non-psychotropic cannabinoid's potential in mitigating cognitive impairment induced by sleep deprivation.Archives of pharmacal research · 2025Review
- Insomnia-related rodent models in drug discovery.Acta pharmacologica Sinica · 2024Review
- Modafinil, an atypical CNS stimulant?Advances in pharmacology (San Diego, Calif.) · 2024Article
- Illuminating the monoamine transporters: Fluorescently labelled ligands to study dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine transporters.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2023Review
- Comparison of Solriamfetol and Modafinil on Arousal and Anxiety-Related Behaviors in Narcoleptic Mice.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2023Article
- Synthesis, Neuroprotective Effect and Physicochemical Studies of Novel Peptide and Nootropic Analogues of Alzheimer Disease Drug.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Article
- Current Understanding of Narcolepsy 1 and its Comorbidities: What Clinicians Need to Know.Advances in therapy · 2022Review
- Current Management of Residual Excessive Daytime Sleepiness Due to Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Insights for Optimizing Patient Outcomes.Neurology and therapy · 2021Review
- Modafinil reduces smoked cocaine self-administration in humans: effects vary as a function of cocaine 'priming' and cost.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Modafinil, in its two clinical formulations (Provigil(®) and Nuvigil(®)), is a widely prescribed wake-promoting therapeutic agent. It binds competitively to the cell-membrane dopamine (DA) transporter and is dependent on catecholaminergic (dopaminergic and adrenergic) signaling for its wake-promoting effects. The clinical spectrum of effects for modafinil is distinct from the effects seen with other catecholaminergic agents. Relative to other commonly used agents that act through catecholaminergic mechanisms, modafinil has a relatively low abuse potential, produces wakefulness with an attenuated compensatory sleep recovery thereafter, and does not ameliorate cataplexy in narcolepsy. These clinically relevant phenomenological differences between modafinil and agents such as amphetamines and cocaine do not eliminate catecholaminergic effects as a possible mediator of its wake-promoting action; they merely reflect its unique pharmacological profile. Modafinil is an exceptionally weak, but apparently very selective, DA transporter inhibitor. The pharmacodynamic response to modafinil, as measured by DA levels in brain microdialyzate, is protracted relative to other agents that act via catecholaminergic mechanisms. The conformational constraints on the interaction of modafinil with the DA transporter - and probably, as a consequence, its effects on trace amine receptor signaling in the catecholaminergic cell - are unique among catecholaminergic agents. These unique pharmacological properties of modafinil should be considered both in seeking to thoroughly understand its putatively elusive mechanism of action and in the design of novel therapeutic agents.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.