nifuroxazide

Nifuroxazide (Diarlidan) is an orally available and cell-permeable nitrofuran-based antidiarrheal agent. It has the inhibitory effect against the activation of cellular STAT1 3 5 transcription.

Nifuroxazide-d4 is intended for use as an internal standard for the quantification of nifuroxazide by GC- or LC-MS. Nifuroxazide is a nitrofuran antibiotic. It is active against strains of the enteropathogenic bacteria C. jejuni, Salmonella, Y. enterocolitica, Shigella, and E. coli. It inhibits quorum sensing and virulence factor production in P. aeruginosa. Nifuroxazide inhibits STAT3 activity in a reporter assay and decreases viability of U266 and INA-6 myeloma cells, which have constitutive STAT3 phosphorylation, with EC50 values of approximately 4.5 µM for both. It also decreases viability, migration, and invasion of, and induces apoptosis in, MCF-7, 4T1, and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Nifuroxazide reduces tumor growth and prevents pulmonary metastasis in a 4T1 murine mammary carcinoma model. It also reduces diarrhea, weight loss, and colon inflammation in a rat model of acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis.

EICAR is a drug which acts as an inhibitor of the enzyme IMP dehydrogenase. It is a nucleoside derivative which has both anti-cancer and antiviral effects, and was originally developed for the treatment of leukemia, but was unsuccessful in human clinical trials. It has broad spectrum antiviral effects with activity against vaccinia virus, Semliki forest virus, Junin virus, reovirus, influenza, measles virus and respiratory syncytial virus among others, although it is not active against SARS. This useful spectrum of activity means that EICAR and related derivatives continue to be investigated for the treatment of viral diseases.