ReviewSubstance abuse and rehabilitation2015
Clinical potential of methylphenidate in the treatment of cocaine addiction: a review of the current evidence.
Review in Substance abuse and rehabilitation, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 50 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Current insights into the safety and adverse effects of methylphenidate in children, adolescents, and adults - narrative review.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2025Review
- Methylphenidate with or without fluoxetine triggers reinstatement of cocaine seeking behavior in rats.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2024Article
- Methylphenidate as a treatment option for substance use disorder: a transdiagnostic perspective.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Time-dependent affective disturbances in abstinent patients with methylphenidate use disorder.BMC psychiatry · 2022Article
- Cocaine Use Disorder (CUD): Current Clinical Perspectives.Substance abuse and rehabilitation · 2022Review
- Pharmacotherapeutic strategies for treating cocaine use disorder-what do we have to offer?Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2021Article
- Case Report: CBD Cigarettes for Harm Reduction and Adjunctive Therapy in a Patient With Schizophrenia and Substance Use Disorder.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Social and Non-Social Cognitive Enhancement in Cocaine Users-A Closer Look on Enhancement Motives for Cocaine Consumption.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Article
- Pharmacotherapies for decreasing maladaptive choice in drug addiction: Targeting the behavior and the drug.Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior · 2018Review
- Medications for substance use disorders (SUD): emerging approaches.Expert opinion on emerging drugs · 2017Review
- Public health and international drug policy.Lancet (London, England) · 2016Review
- Cognitive Function as a Transdiagnostic Treatment Target in Stimulant Use Disorders.Journal of dual diagnosis · 2016Review
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
backgroundCocaine use continues to be a public health problem, yet there is no proven effective pharmacotherapy for cocaine dependence. A promising approach to treating cocaine dependence may be agonist-replacement therapy, which is already used effectively in the treatment of opioid and tobacco dependence. The replacement approach for cocaine dependence posits that administration of a long-acting stimulant medication should normalize the neurochemical and behavioral perturbations resulting from chronic cocaine use. One potential medication to be substituted for cocaine is methylphenidate (MPH), as this stimulant possesses pharmacobehavioral properties similar to those of cocaine.
aimTo provide a qualitative review addressing the rationale for the use of MPH as a cocaine substitute and its clinical potential in the treatment of cocaine dependence.
methodsWe searched MEDLINE for clinical studies using MPH in patients with cocaine abuse/dependence and screened the bibliographies of the articles found for pertinent literature.
resultsMPH, like cocaine, increases synaptic dopamine by inhibiting dopamine reuptake. The discriminative properties, reinforcing potential, and subjective effects of MPH and cocaine are almost identical and, importantly, MPH has been found to substitute for cocaine in animals and human volunteers under laboratory conditions. When taken orally in therapeutic doses, its abuse liability, however, appears low, which is especially true for extended-release MPH preparations. Though there are promising data in the literature, mainly from case reports and open-label studies, the results of randomized controlled trials have been disappointing so far and do not corroborate the use of MPH as a substitute for cocaine dependence in patients without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
conclusionClinical studies evaluating MPH substitution for cocaine dependence have provided inconsistent findings. However, the negative findings may be explained by specific study characteristics, among them dosing, duration of treatment, or sample size. This needs to be considered when discussing the potential of MPH as replacement therapy for cocaine dependence. Finally, based on the results, we suggest possible directions for future research.
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.