Hydroquinine has been approved for marketing in the Netherlands for the treatment of nocturnal cramps when medical treatment is deemed necessary. Available over-the-counter in the Netherlands since March 1990, 200 mg with dinner and 100 mg at bedtime for 14 days. Hydroquinone also has antimalarial and demelaninizing activities. It can be used to lighten light brown patches of skin, age spots, and skin discoloration associated with pregnancy, skin trauma, or taking birth control pills. Hydroquinone is used in whitening creams and lotions because it is an effective bleaching agent that slows down the production of tyrosinase and reduces the amount of melanin that forms.
Hydroquinine can be used to prepare its derivatives, such as C9 epihydroquinine, 9-acetoxy-10,11-dihydroquinine and 10,11-dihydroquinine monohydrochloride. It can also be used as a catalyst for the methylhydrazine-promoted asymmetric ?-hydroxylation of ?-ketoesters in the presence of molecular oxygen as oxidizing agent to form enantiomerically enriched ?-hydroxyl ?-dicarbonyl compounds.
Antibiotic resistance is making it increasingly difficult for clinicians to treat infections and is a public health threat worldwide. Researchers from the University of Portsmouth and Thailand's Naresuan University and Pibulsongkram Rajabhat University say that hydroquinine, a compound found in the bark of certain trees, can kill drug-resistant bacteria.
"One of the main mechanisms these bacteria use to evade drug-killing activity was upregulated with treatment—indicating a strong bacterial response," Baldock said in a press release. "By studying this compound further, we hope it may provide another way to treat bacterial infections in the future."
More than 35,000 people die each year from drug-resistant bacterial infections. These superbugs -- bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites that stop responding to drugs over time -- can cause serious illnesses such as sepsis, urinary tract infections and pneumonia.
Hydroquinine successfully killed the common multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), a glucose-fermenting Gram-negative bacterium that, according to the study authors, can cause burns, cystic fibrosis, skin infections, and infections in patients with pneumonia.
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is also associated with high mortality. 1 Bloodstream infections are estimated to kill 30% to 50% of patients, and pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa can be fatal in 70% of hospitalized patients.
The researchers studied hydroquinine and its ability to stop the growth of drug-resistant bacteria using the broth microdilution method. Hydroquinine is effective at killing the bacteria E. coli (E. Coli) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) at minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of 650 to 2500 micrograms and MICs of 1250 to 5000 microgram.
"The results of this study suggest that hydroquinine may be a better candidate for developing antimicrobial activity than the quinine derivative quinine dihydrochloride (which has an MIC of 125 g/mL)," the researchers said in a news release. drugs".