Which of the following drugs has both antihelminth and antiprotozoal activity ?: (A) Nitazoxanide, (B) Emetine, (C) Chloroquine, (D) Diloxanidefuroate
Answer is A. Ans. is 'a' i.e., Nitazoxanide Nitazoxanide This is the salicylamidecogener of the antihelminthniclosamide, introduced for the treatment of giardiasis and cryptosporidiosis and is also active against other protozoa and helminthes including E. histolytica, T. vaginalis, Ascaris and H. nana. It is a prodrug which onn absorption is conveed into active for tizoxanide. Tizoxanide is an inhibitor of PFOR enzyme that is the essential pathway of electron transpo energy metabolism in anaerobic organisms.