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In the USA , the stimulant drug methylphenidate (MPH) is used to treat a large number (2 million or more per year) of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Although the US FDA approved MPH in the 1960s , the pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of serum concentrations of MPH in children with ADHD were not described until the 1980s, and then in only a few cases. Recently, information from drug development programs have increased our knowledge about the serum PK and some pharmacodynamic (PD) characteristics of MPH in ADHD children, and studies based on positron emission tomograpy (PET) in adult volunteers have provided new knowledge about the PK properties of MPH at the primary site of action in the brain. We will review these two topics and use this new information to evaluate the mechanisms of action of MPH. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aiming the faster development from bench to bedside of new potential tracers, multimodal tracers for positron emission tomography (PET) and optical imaging (OI) have emerged as a very promising tool. Indeed, they combine the simplicity of use of optical techniques for in vitro / in vivo pre-clinical studies with the various clinical possibilities offered by PET imaging using their radioactive versions. In this context, the preparation of new tags detectable by fluorescence imaging and potentially suitable for PET imaging after a last-step 11C-labeling of the corresponding precursor has been investigated. Various designs and syntheses were explored by linking o -iodobenzyl alcohols and tetramethyl-BODIPY moieties together. Among them, the most promising structure was produced in 30% yield over five steps from a commercially available and inexpensive starting material. Image 1 • Design and synthesis of a promising o -iodobenzyl alcohol-BODIPY tag for multimodal imaging (fluorescence / 11C-labeling). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]