|
Pentamidine (formulated as a salt, pentamidine diisethionate or dimesilate) is an antimicrobial medication given for prevention and treatment of Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) caused by ''Pneumocystis jirovecii'' (formerly known as ''Pneumocystis carinii''), a severe interstitial type of pneumonia often seen in patients with HIV infection. The drug is also the mainstay of treatment for stage I infection with ''Trypanosoma brucei gambiense'' (West African Trypanosomiasis). It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, a list of the most important medications needed in a basic health system. ==Medical uses== Pentamidine is also used as a prophylactic against PCP in patients receiving chemotherapy, as they also have a depressed immune system as a direct side-effect of the drugs used. The mortality of untreated PCP is very high. Additionally, pentamidine has good clinical activity in treating leishmaniasis, and yeast infections caused by the organism ''Candida albicans''. Pentamidine is also used as a prophylactic antibiotic for children undergoing treatment for leukemia. The exact mechanism of its anti-protozoal action is unknown (though it may involve reactions with ubiquitin), despite the fact that it is a basic therapeutic modality (in concurrence with multiple antifungal medications) when treating Acanthamoeba infections in the immunocompromised patients. In the United States, pentamidine is currently designated an orphan drug by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pentamidine is taken up by purine receptors by ''Trypanosoma brucei gambiense''.This parasite is unable to synthesise its own adenine and must uptake this nucleotide from the host. It thereby accumulates to micromolar concentrations within the parasite to kill it by inhibiting enzymes and interacting with DNA. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「pentamidine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|