Cresol
Brand name:- Lysol is a 50% soapy emulsion of cresol.
Cresol is a hydroxytoluene that can be extracted naturally from coal tar or made synthetically. Pure cresol is a mixture of ortho-, meta-, and para- isomers. Cresols are precursors or synthetic intermediates to various other compounds and materials, including plastics, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, disinfectants, and dyes. Ingestion of cresol induces toxicity in humans and can lead to burning of the mouth and throat, abdominal pain, and/or vomiting. At concentrations normally found in the environment however, cresols do not pose any significant risk for the general population.
Pharmacodynamic:-
All cresol isomers are absorbed across the respiratory and gastrointestinal tract and through the intact skin . Limited data indicate that cresols are widely distributed throughout the body after uptake . Cresols are mainly conjugated with glucuronic acid and inorganic sulfate and excreted as conjugates with the urine .
At physiological pH, the conjugated metabolites are ionized to a greater extent than the parent compound, which reduces renal reabsorption and increases elimination with the urine .In addition to urinary excretion, cresols are excreted in the bile, but the most part undergoes enterohepatic circulation . There are know species differences in the specific conjugation reactions of cresol isomers and the relative amounts of glucuronide and sulfate conjugates therefore differ between species and also vary with dose .
Mechanism of action:-
When cresol isomers are used directly as the active ingredient in bactericides or disinfectants, it appears as if much of the evidence for the mechanism of action for such phenolic germicides indicates that their effect is due to physical damage of bacterial cell membranes . Although not completely explained, some possibilities of how this effect occurs either involves the phenol germicide binding or coming into contact with and (a) causing changes in the permeability of the osmotic barrier of bacterial cell membranes, which therefore allows the escape or leakage of normal cytoplasmic constituents, (b) causing the uncoupling of cytoplasmic constituents with their subsequent leakage from the cell, or (c) a combination of these actions .
Used:-
Used to dissolve other chemicals, as disinfectants and deodorizers, and to make other chemicals. Cresols may be formed normally in the body from other compounds. Cresols are found in many foods and in wood and tobacco smoke, crude oil, coal tar, and in chemical mixtures used as wood preservatives.
Side effects:-
It's main toxicity is due to denaturation and precipitation of cellular proteins and thus poisons all cells directly. It can be absorbed following inhalation, oral, or dermal exposure. Its poisoning can be fatal. Cresol is extremely corrosive and may cause cutaneous damage, and gastrointestinal corrosive injury.
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