Association of Metronidazole with Cancer: A Potential Risk Factor or Inconsistent Deductions?

Association of Metronidazole with Cancer: A Potential Risk Factor or Inconsistent Deductions? Curr Drug Metab. 2018 Mar 29;: Authors: Adil M, Iqbal W, Adnan F, Wazir S, Khan I, Khayam MU, Kamal MA, Ahmad S, Ahmad J, Khan IN Abstract Metronidazole is a synthetic derivative of nitroimidazole that has been widely used for the treatment of several bacterial and protozoal parasitic infections including trichomoniasis, amoebiasis, giardiasis, liver abscess, acute ulcerative gingivitis, syphilis and tropical phagedena. In addition to its toxicity in the gastrointestinal tract and central/peripheral nervous system, metronidazole has been reported to cause mucosal imbalance by affecting the expression of mucin (Muc2 gene), which is responsible to form an insoluble mucous barrier that protects the gut lumen from microbial colonization. Since metronidazole is a nitro-group containing compound and used significantly for therapeutic purposes, scientists evaluated its carcinogenicity in different preclinical in-vitro and in-vivo studies. In addition to the preclinical in-vitro validation of DNA damage, metronidazole has been reported to induce cancer in the variety of animal models including lung cancer, malignant lymphomas, breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma, pituitary tumors, testicular neoplasms and uterine cancer. Several retrospective cohort studies have reported metronidazole as a potential risk factor for lung cancer (n = 771), cervica...
Source: Current Drug Metabolism - Category: Drugs & Pharmacology Authors: Tags: Curr Drug Metab Source Type: research