Melarsoprol
Structural formula | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Simplified structural formula without stereochemistry | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Non-proprietary name | Melarsoprol | |||||||||||||||||||||
other names |
2- {4 - [(4,6-diamino-1,3,5-triazin-2-yl) -amino] phenyl} -1,3,2-dithiarsolane-4-methanol ( IUPAC ) |
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Molecular formula | C 12 H 15 AsN 6 OS 2 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Antiprotozoic |
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properties | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Molar mass | 398.34 g · mol -1 | |||||||||||||||||||||
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As far as possible and customary, SI units are used. Unless otherwise noted, the data given apply to standard conditions . |
Melarsoprol is a medicinal substance with arsenic , dimercaprol and melamine as structural elements. It is used to treat the late stage African trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) and is available under the trade names Mel B or Arsobal ; there is no approval in Europe.
Since melarsoprol is a poisonous arsenic compound, treatment should only be carried out under the supervision of a doctor. Treatment causes a number of side effects including: convulsions, fever, fainting, rash, blood in your stools, nausea, and vomiting. Particularly feared is an encephalopathy , which leads to death in 5 to 10% of cases.
Eflornithine is a more modern and far less dangerous treatment for sleeping sickness, but it is ineffective, expensive, difficult to obtain in infections with Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and therefore most of the stock comes from donations from the manufacturer Sanofi-Aventis .
The finished preparation Arsobal is currently out of distribution.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry on arsenic compounds in the GESTIS substance database of the IFA , accessed on February 1, 2016(JavaScript required) .
- ↑ Not explicitly listed in Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 (CLP) , but with the specified labeling it falls under the group entry arsenic compounds, with the exception of those named in this appendix in the Classification and Labeling Inventory of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) on February 1, 2016. Manufacturers or distributors can expand the harmonized classification and labeling .
- ↑ ABDA database (as of December 4, 2009).