Etanidazole is a
nitroimidazole
Nitroimidazoles are the group of organic compound, organic compounds consisting of an imidazole ring with at least one nitro group substituent. The term also refers to the class of antibiotics that have nitroimidazole in their structures. These an ...
drug that was investigated in
clinical trial
Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...
s for its
radiosensitizing properties in cancer treatment. Administration of etanidazole results in a decrease of
glutathione
Glutathione (GSH, ) is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is an antioxidant in plants, animals, fungi, and some bacteria and archaea. Glutathione is capable of preventing damage to important cellular components caused by sources ...
concentration and
inhibits glutathione ''S''-transferase. The result is that tissues become more sensitive to the
ionizing radiation
Ionizing (ionising) radiation, including Radioactive decay, nuclear radiation, consists of subatomic particles or electromagnetic waves that have enough energy per individual photon or particle to ionization, ionize atoms or molecules by detaching ...
.
See also
*
18F-EF5
EF5 is a nitroimidazole derivative used in oncology research. Due to its similarity in chemical structure to etanidazole, EF5 binds in cells displaying hypoxia.
Non-labeled EF5 has been extensively used in immunohistochemical studies for sever ...
, a related nitroimidazole
*
Misonidazole
Misonidazole is a radiosensitizer that was investigated in clinical trials. It was used in these trials for radiation therapy
Radiation therapy or radiotherapy (RT, RTx, or XRT) is a therapy, treatment using ionizing radiation, generally provi ...
References
Nitroimidazoles
Hydroxyethyl compounds
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