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| AHFS/Drugs.com | Micromedex Detailed Consumer Information |
| Routes of administration | Oral-Local |
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| ECHA InfoCard | 100.000.594 |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C8H7N3O5 |
| Molar mass | 225.160 g·mol−1 |
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Furazolidone is anitrofuranantibacterial agent andmonoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI).[1] It is marketed byRoberts Laboratories under the brand nameFuroxone and byGlaxoSmithKline asDependal-M.
Furazolidone has been used in human and veterinary medicine. It has a broad spectrum of activity, being active against:[citation needed]
In humans, it has been used to treatdiarrhoea andenteritis caused bybacterial orprotozoan infections, including traveler's diarrhoea,cholera, andbacteremic salmonellosis.
In 2002, a journal article suggested its use in treatment ofH. pylori infections in children.[2]
Furazolidone has also been used forgiardiasis (due toGiardia lamblia), amoebiasis, and shigellosis, although it is not a first-line treatment.[3]
From the early 1970s, it has been used in China to treatpeptic ulcers, where the mechanism is treatment of the causativeHelicobacter pylori infection.[4]
As aveterinary medicine, furazolidone has been used with some success to treatsalmonids forMyxobolus cerebralis infections.[citation needed]
It has also been used inaquaculture.[5]
Since furazolidone is a nitrofuran antibiotic, its use in food animals is currently prohibited by the FDA under the Animal Medicinal Drug Use Clarification Act, 1994.[6]
Furazolidone is no longer available in the US.[citation needed]
It is used to differentiatemicrococci andstaphylococci.[citation needed]
It is believed to work bycrosslinking of DNA.[7]
Though an effective antibiotic when all others fail, against extremely drug resistant infections, it has many side effects. includinginhibition of monoamine oxidase,[1] and as with othernitrofurans generally,minimum inhibitory concentrations also produce systemic toxicity, resulting in tremors, convulsions, peripheral neuritis, gastrointestinal disturbances, and depression ofspermatogenesis. Nitrofurans are recognized by FDA as mutagens/carcinogens, and can no longer be used in food-producing animals in the United States as of 1991.[8]