BALSALAZIDE Uses, Side Effects, and More

 BALSALAZIDE

BRAND NAME:- COLOREX 750mg cap and per 5ml syr. , INTAZIDE 750mg tab.

BALSALAZIDE is 5-ASA linked to 4-aminobenzoyl- Beta - alanine as the carrier which, unlike sulfapyridine, is inert . The 5-ASA is released in the colon ,and the carrier is poorly absorbed. It can be used as a safer alternative to sulfasalazine.

PHARMACODYNAMIC:- 

Balsalazide is a prodrug that has little or no pharmacologic activity until it is enzymatically cleaved in the colon to produce mesalamine (5-aminosalicylic acid), an anti inflammatory drug indicated for the treatment of mildly to moderately active ulcerative colitis. Balsalazide disodium is delivered intact to the colon where it is cleaved by bacterial azoreduction to release equimolar quantities of mesalamine, which is the therapeutically active portion of the molecule, and the intert 4-aminobenzoyl-(beta)-alanine. As a result, the spectrum of pharmacologic activity of balsalazide is similar to that of mesalamine.

MECHANISM OF ACTION:- 

MECHANISM of action of 5-aminosalicylic acid is unknown, but appears exert its anti-inflammatory effects locally (in the GI tract) rather than systemically. Mucosal production of arachidonic acid metabolites, both through the cyclooxygenase pathways (catalyzes the formation of prostaglandin precursors from arachidonic acid), and through the lipoxygenase pathways (catalyzes the formation of leukotrienes and hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids from arachidonic acid and its metabolites), is increased in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Therefore, it is possible that 5-aminosalicylic acid diminishes inflammation by blocking production of arachidonic acid metabolites in the colon through both the inhibition of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase.

USES:- 

used to treat ulcerative colitis (a condition which causes swelling and sores in the lining of the colon [large intestine] and rectum) in adults and children 5 years of age and older. Balsalazide is an anti-inflammatory drug.

SIDE EFFECTS:- 

Headache, nausea, vomiting, joint pain, diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, sore throat, trouble sleeping, or loss of appetite may occur.

DOSE:- 1.5 mg BD to 2.5mg TDS.