Diloxanide furoate

Diloxanide furoate is a luminal amebicide used in the treatment of Amebiasis. It is considered the luminal agent of choice for mild intestinal amebiasis or asymptomatic cyst carriers.It can also be added to metronidazole(active drug in luminal and extraintestinal amebiasis) in acute amebic dysentery as well as hepatic abscess(In hepatic abscess it is for the control of cysts in the lumen which may cause relapse). The drug was discovered by The Boots Company Plc in 1956 and introduced as Furamide. The Furamide brand is now owned by Abbott Laboratories. It is not available in the US. In India it is available as Amicline by Franco-Indian.

It is on the World Health Organization’s List of Essential Medicines, a list of the most important medication needed in a basic health system.

A 13-year study conducted by the United States Center for Disease Control between 1977 and 1990 found that this drug had a low incidence of side effects and was successful in treatment of 86% of asymptomatic carriers of Entamoeba histolytica.