Trade names Hidrasec, Tiorfan ATC code A07XA04 (WHO) | Routes ofadministration Oral Molar mass 385.4766 g/mol | |
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AHFS/Drugs.com International Drug Names Legal status UK: POM (Prescription only) Protein binding 90% (active thiorphan metabolite) | ||
Racecadotril, also known as acetorphan, is an antidiarrheal drug which acts as a peripherally acting enkephalinase inhibitor. Unlike other opioid medications used to treat diarrhea, which reduce intestinal motility, racecadotril has an antisecretory effect—it reduces the secretion of water and electrolytes into the intestine. It is available in France (where it was first introduced in ~1990) and other European countries (including Germany, Italy, the UK, Spain and the Czech Republic) as well as most of South America and some South East Asian countries (including China, India and Thailand), but not in the United States. It is sold under the tradenames Hidrasec or, in France, Tiorfan. In Italy it is sold under the tradename Tiorfix.
Thiorphan is the active metabolite of racecadotril, which exerts the bulk of its inhibitory actions on enkephalinase.