Diazoxide, sold under the brand name Proglycem among others, is a medication used to treat low blood sugar due to a number of specific causes.[ It can also be used in refractory cases of sulfonylurea toxicity.][
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Diazoxide, used as the salt diazoxide choline, and sold under the brand name Vykat XR, is used for the treatment of hyperphagia in people with Prader–Willi syndrome.
Common side effects include high blood sugar, fluid retention, low blood platelets, a fast heart rate, increased hair growth, and nausea.[ Other severe side effects include pulmonary hypertension and heart failure.][ It is chemically similar to thiazide diuretics.][ It works by decreasing insulin release from the pancreas and increasing glucose release by the liver.][
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Diazoxide was approved for medical use in the United States in 1973.[ It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines.]
Medical uses
Diazoxide is used as a vasodilator in the treatment of acute hypertension or malignant hypertension.
Diazoxide also inhibits the secretion of insulin by opening ATP-sensitive potassium channel of of the pancreas; thus, it is used to counter hypoglycemia in disease states such as insulinoma (a tumor producing insulin)
Diazoxide acts as a positive allosteric modulator of the AMPA receptor and , suggesting potential application as a cognitive enhancer.
Side effects
Diazoxide interferes with insulin release through its action on potassium channels.[
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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published a safety announcement in July 2015 highlighting the potential for development of pulmonary hypertension in newborns and infants treated with this drug.
Diazoxide has been associated with development of hypertrichosis and stimulation of scalp hair hair growth.
Research
Diazoxide, formulated as its choline salt diazoxide choline, is an experimental antiobesity drug being tested in people with Prader-Willi syndrome
