Pyritinol
Chemical compound
Pyritinol also called pyridoxine disulfide or pyrithioxine (European drug names Encephabol, Encefabol, Cerbon 6) is a semi-synthetic water-soluble analog of vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine HCl). It was produced in 1961 by Merck Laboratories by bonding 2 vitamin B6 compounds (pyridoxine) together with a disulfide bridge. Since the 1970s, it has been a prescription and OTC drug in several countries for cognitive disorders, rheumatoid arthritis, and learning disorders in children. Since the early 1990s it has been sold as a nootropic dietary supplement in the United States.
01Availability
It is approved for "symptomatic treatment of chronically impaired brain function in dementia syndromes" and for "supportive treatment of sequelae of craniocerebral trauma" in various European countries, including Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Portugal, and Greece. In France it is also approved for rheumatoid arthritis as a disease modifying drug, on the basis of the results of clinical trials. In many countries it is available over the counter and is widely advertised on the internet as being for "memory disturbances."
02Adverse effects
Adverse effects include nausea, headache, and rarely allergic reaction (mild skin reactions). A 2004 survey of six case reports suggested a link between pyritinol and severe cholestatic hepatitis when on several drugs for certain diseases.
Other rare side effects: acute pancreatitis and photoallergic eruption.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Pyritinol”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Pyritinol.svg by Surachit at en.wikipedia (Later version(s) were uploaded by Edgar181 at en.wikipedia.), Public domain
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