Adrafinil vs Modafinil: Similarities
Modafinil and adrafinil are or were used to treat the same medical conditions, namely narcolepsy, idiopathic hypersomnia, and obstructive sleep apnea (Dubey et al., 2009). In addition, adrafinil was administered to elderly individuals in France until 2011 to enhance mental functioning (Docherty, 2008). Meanwhile, modafinil is being investigated as an off-label treatment of ADHD (Kim, 2012). Both, however, are classified as psychostimulants and are available in forms suitable for oral intake. Modafinil and adrafinil are nearly alike in chemical structure except that adrafinil is a precursor drug to modafinil (Rao et al., 2008). Once administered, adrafinil is transformed by the liver into modafinil so that both drugs produce the same active metabolite which is modafinilic acid (Dubey et al., 2009). They belong to the same class of monoaminomimetic agents, or those that influence monoamine re-uptake and release, known as alpha-1 adrenergic agonists.