Drug Groups

approved

Description

Piperazine is an organic compound that consists of a six-membered ring containing two opposing nitrogen atoms. Piperazine exists as small alkaline deliquescent crystals with a saline taste.

Piperazine was introduced to medicine as a solvent for uric acid. When taken into the body the drug is partly oxidized and partly eliminated unchanged. Outside the body, piperazine has a remarkable power to dissolve uric acid and producing a soluble urate, but in clinical experience it has not proved equally successful.

Piperazine was first introduced as an anthelmintic in 1953. A large number of piperazine compounds have anthelmintic action. Their mode of action is generally by paralysing parasites, which allows the host body to easily remove or expel the invading organism.

Indication

Used as alternative treatment for ascariasis caused by Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworm) and enterobiasis (oxyuriasis) caused by Enterobius vermicularis (pinworm). It is also used to treat partial intestinal obstruction by the common roundworm, a condition primarily occurring in children.

Pharmacology

Piperazine is an anthelminthic especially useful in the treatment of partial intestinal obstruction caused by Ascaris worms, which is a condition primarily seen in children. Piperazine hydrate and piperazine citrate are the main anthelminthic piperazines.

Toxicity

LD₅₀ = 5 g/kg (Human, oral). Symptoms of overdose include muscle fatigue, seizures, and difficulty breathing.

Affected Organisms

Biotransformation

About 25% is metabolized in the liver. Piperazine is nitrosated to form N -mononitrosopiperazine (MNPz) in gastric juice, which is then metabolized to N-nitroso-3-hydroxypyrrolidine (NHPYR).

Absorption

Rapidly absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract

Protein Binding

60-70%

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