Emetine dihydrochloride hydrate

Emetine dihydrochloride hydrate is an anti-protozoal drug previously used for intestinal and tissue amoebiasis.

Emetine dihydrochloride hydrate is reported to have an IC50 value of 1 nM on the drug sensitive 3D7 P. falciparum parasite strains. Dose response curves are determined for both drugs using K1 resistant isolates and IC50 values of 47±2.1 nM and 2.6±0.41 nM established for emetine dihydrochloride hydrate and DHA, respectively[1]. After the lymphoblasts are treated with cycloheximide or emetine dihydrochloride hydrate, the expression level of the mutant allele is elevated almost equally to the wild-type alleles by direct sequencing of the corresponding cDNA[2]. Emetine is identified as a lead compound with significant concentration dependent suppression of PEDF-induced TNF secretion and an IC50 of 146 nM. Emetine inhibits PEDF-mediated TNF release without affecting cell viability. Emetine binds to PEDF receptor ATGL with high-binding affinity (KD=14.3 nM)[3]. Emetine treatment reduces cell viability, induces apoptosis, promptes AML cells towards differentiation and downregulates HIF-1α[4].

Emetine (0.002, 0.02, 0.2 and 2 mg/kg) does not induce any significant difference in body weight in mice with low-dose streptozotocin model of T1D. Administration of emetine not only attenuates blood glucose levels in dose-dependent way but also induces a persistent attenuation of blood glucose levels. Daily administration of emetine dose-dependently attenuates hyperglycemic response by d 21. Consistent with this observation, administration of emetine, but not the vehicle control, results in a sustained attenuation of blood glucose levels. Emetine improves disease severity in a spontaneous model of NOD T1D[3]. Emetine (1 mg/kg) reduces both leukemia burden in an in vivo xenotransplantation mouse model and the clonogenic capacity of leukemic cells upon treatment[4].

[1]. Matthews H, et al. Drug repositioning as a route to anti-malarial drug discovery: preliminary investigation of the in vitro anti-malarial efficacy of emetine dihydrochloride hydrate. Malar J. 2013 Oct 9;12:359. [2]. Wu L, et al. PRRT2 truncated mutations lead to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in Paroxysmal Kinesigenic Dyskinesia. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2014 Dec;20(12):1399-404. [3]. Hudson LK, et al. Emetine Di-HCl attenuates Type 1 diabetes mellitus in mice. Mol Med. 2016 Jun 10;22. [4]. Cornet-Masana JM, et al. Emetine induces chemosensitivity and reduces clonogenicity of acute myeloid leukemia cells. Oncotarget. 2016 Apr 26;7(17):23239-50.