Dehydroemetine is a synthetically produced antiprotozoal agent

Antiprotozoal agent

Antiprotozoal agents is a class of pharmaceuticals used in treatment of protozoan infection.Protozoans have little in common with each other and so agents effective against one pathogen may not be effective against another...

 similar to emetine

Emetine

Emetine is a drug used as both an anti-protozoal and to induce vomiting. It is produced from the ipecac root.-Early emetine-based preparations:Early use of emetine was in the form of oral administration of the extract of ipecac root, or ipecacuanha...

 in its anti-amoebic properties and structure (they differ only in a double bond next to the ethyl radical), but it produces fewer side effects. In the United States, it is manufactured by Roche.

Uses

It is distributed by the Center for Disease Control on a compassionate use basis as an investigational drug for the treatment of metronidazole

Metronidazole

Metronidazole is a nitroimidazole antibiotic medication used particularly for anaerobic bacteria and protozoa. Metronidazole is an antibiotic, amebicide, and antiprotozoal....

-resistant amoebiasis.

Amoebic infections

Some examples of the use of dehydroemetine in the treatment of amoebic infections include:

1. In 1993, the successful treatment of cutaneous amebiasis in a 7-year old girl with dehydroemetine and metronidazole in Mexico.
2. A double-blind study of oral dehydroemetine in the treatment of amoebiasis performed at St. Mary's Hospital, Catholic Medical College, Seoul, Republic of Korea in 1973-1974 showed dehydroemetine treatment was effective. A total of 60 patients were treated, 20 with dehydroemetine, 20 with Tiberal, and 20 with metronidazole. One-fourth of the patients treated with dehydroemetine reported adverse reactions, compared to 20% with other drugs, but no patient discontinued therapy due to the reaction. In all three cases, the drug therapy resulted in clearance of the infection, defined as negative results through an O&P exam, in all but 1-2 patients.
3. A 1979 study of 27 patients treated with dehydroemetine and various other drugs suggested all drug combinations were successful at treating amoebic liver abscesses.
4. A 1986 in vitro study compared the effects of dehydroemetine, metronidazole, ornidazole, and secnidazole on Entamoeba histolytica
   Entamoeba histolytica
   Entamoeba histolytica is an anaerobic parasitic protozoan, part of the genus Entamoeba. Predominantly infecting humans and other primates, E. histolytica is estimated to infect about 50 million people worldwide...
   
   . Metronidazole was found to be most effective, and the other three drugs were of similar effectiveness.

In other diseases

A 1980 report described the use of dehydroemetine in treatment of herpes zoster

Herpes zoster

Herpes zoster , commonly known as shingles and also known as zona, is a viral disease characterized by a painful skin rash with blisters in a limited area on one side of the body, often in a stripe...

, a condition which can produce painful neurological symptoms. The study involved 40 patients, all of whom were over 60, and compared dehydroemetine treatment to another drug. The study reported patients treated with dehydroemetine experienced relief of neuralgia with no changes in cardiovascular functions.

Dehydroemetine has been investigated as a treatment for Leishmania

Leishmania

Leishmania is a genus of Trypanosomatid protozoa, and is the parasite responsible for the disease leishmaniasis. It is spread through sandflies of the genus Phlebotomus in the Old World, and of the genus Lutzomyia in the New World. Their primary hosts are vertebrates; Leishmania commonly infects...

infection.