Burimamide is an
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the chief foe of the protagonist.
Etymology
The English word antagonist comes from the Greek ἀνταγωνιστής – ''antagonistēs'', "opponent, competitor, villain, enemy, riv ...
at the
H2 and
H3 histamine
Histamine is an organic nitrogenous compound involved in local immune responses, as well as regulating physiological functions in the gut and acting as a neurotransmitter for the brain, spinal cord, and uterus. Since histamine was discovered in ...
receptors
Receptor may refer to:
*Sensory receptor, in physiology, any structure which, on receiving environmental stimuli, produces an informative nerve impulse
*Receptor (biochemistry), in biochemistry, a protein molecule that receives and responds to a n ...
. It is largely inactive as an H
2 antagonist at physiological pH,
but its H
3 affinity is 100x higher. It is a
thiourea
Thiourea () is an organosulfur compound with the formula and the structure . It is structurally similar to urea (), except that the oxygen atom is replaced by a sulfur atom (as implied by the ''thio-'' prefix); however, the properties of urea ...
derivative.
Burimamide was first developed by scientists at Smith, Kline & French (SK&F; now
GlaxoSmithKline
GSK plc, formerly GlaxoSmithKline plc, is a British multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with global headquarters in London, England. Established in 2000 by a merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. GSK is the ten ...
) in their intent to develop a histamine antagonist for the treatment of
peptic ulcers.
The discovery of burimamide ultimately led to the development of
cimetidine
Cimetidine, sold under the brand name Tagamet among others, is a histamine H2 receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production. It is mainly used in the treatment of heartburn and peptic ulcers.
The development of longer-acting H2 rec ...
(Tagamet).
See also
*
Metiamide
Metiamide is a histamine H2 receptor antagonist developed from another H2 antagonist, burimamide. It was an intermediate compound in the development of the successful anti-ulcer drug cimetidine (Tagamet).
Development of metiamide from burimamid ...
*
Cimetidine
Cimetidine, sold under the brand name Tagamet among others, is a histamine H2 receptor antagonist that inhibits stomach acid production. It is mainly used in the treatment of heartburn and peptic ulcers.
The development of longer-acting H2 rec ...
References
H2 receptor antagonists
H3 receptor antagonists
Imidazoles
Thioureas
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