Niclosamide is an oral antihelminthic drug used to treat parasitic infections in millions of people worldwide. However recent studies have indicated that niclosamide may have broad clinical applications for the treatment of diseases other than those caused by parasites. 

Related research

Niclosamide was discovered in the Bayer chemotherapy research laboratories in 1953. It was originally developed as a molluscicide to kill snails, an intermediate host of schistosomiasis, and was marketed as Bayluscide in 1959. In 1960, scientists at Bayer found it to be effective against human tapeworm (cestoda) infection, and it was marketed as Yomesan for human use in 1962. 

Niclosamide was approved by the US FDA for use in humans to treat tapeworm infection in 1982 and is included in the World Health Organization's list of essential medicines. It has been used to safely treat millions of patients. For such a widely-used drug, Niclosamide's mechanism of action has not been well-delineated, although it has been reported to involve uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation. In the past several years, mounting evidence has accumulated that niclosamide is a multifunctional drug that is able to inhibit or regulate multiple signaling pathways and biological processes, suggesting that it may be developed as a novel treatment for more than just helminthic disease.

Uses

Niclosamide is used to treat broad or fish tapeworm, dwarf tapeworm, and beef tapeworm infections. Niclosamide may also be used for other tapeworm infections as determined by your doctor. It will not work for other types of worm infections (for example, pinworms or roundworms).

Niclosamide's metabolic effects are relevant to wide ranges of organisms, and accordingly it has been applied as a control measure to organisms other than tapeworms. For example, it is an active ingredient in some formulations such as Bayluscide for killing lamprey larvae,as a molluscide,and as a general purpose piscicide in aquaculture. Niclosamide has a short half-life in water in field conditions; this makes it valuable in ridding commercial fish ponds of unwanted fish; it loses its activity soon enough to permit re-stocking within a few days of eradicating the previous population.Researchers have found that niclosamide is effective in killing invasive zebra mussels in cool waters.