Stibophen is an anthelmintic originally developed by

Bayer Bayer AG (, commonly pronounced ; ) is a German multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company and one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. Headquartered in Leverkusen, Bayer's areas of busi ...

that is used as a treatment for

schistosomiasis Schistosomiasis, also known as snail fever, bilharzia, and Katayama fever, is a disease caused by parasitic flatworms called schistosomes. The urinary tract or the intestines may be infected. Symptoms include abdominal pain, diarrhea, bloody s ...

intramuscular injection Intramuscular injection, often abbreviated IM, is the injection of a substance into a muscle. In medicine, it is one of several methods for parenteral administration of medications. Intramuscular injection may be preferred because muscles have ...

. It is classified as a trivalent antimony compound. Brand names include Fouadin/Fuadin (named in honor of Fuad I of Egypt, who had enthusiastically supported its research and development).

Mechanism of action

Stibophen inhibits the enzyme phosphofructokinase, which the worms need for glycolysis, at least partly by binding to the

sulfhydryl In organic chemistry, a thiol (; ), or thiol derivative, is any organosulfur compound of the form , where R represents an alkyl or other organic substituent. The functional group itself is referred to as either a thiol group or a sulfhydryl grou ...

(–SH) group of the enzyme. Inhibiting glycolysis paralyzes the worms, which lose their hold on the wall of mesenteric veins and undergo hepatic shift, die, and are phagocytosed by liver cells.

References

Antiparasitic agents Sulfonates Antimony(III) compounds {{antiinfective-drug-stub