Small molecule
PubChem CID 5702160
Famotidine
Pepcid
- Mechanism of action
- Histamine H2-receptor antagonist
- In plain language
- Calms stomach acid by blocking the histamine signal that tells acid-producing cells to turn on, rather than shutting the acid pump down directly the way pantoprazole-type drugs do.
- How it works
- Famotidine is a competitive histamine H2-receptor antagonist that selectively binds to H2 receptors on the basolateral membrane of gastric parietal cells, blocking histamine-stimulated gastric acid secretion. This reduces both the volume and acidity of gastric secretions, including basal, nocturnal, and food-, caffeine-, insulin-, and pentagastrin-stimulated acid output. Because famotidine acts on the H2 receptor — one step upstream in the acid-secretion cascade — rather than on the acid pump itself, its inhibition is reversible and competitive, distinguishing it from proton pump inhibitors such as omeprazole and pantoprazole, which act at the terminal H+/K+ ATPase and inhibit that pump irreversibly.
- Therapeutic applications
- Per FDA-approved labeling, famotidine tablets are indicated in adult and pediatric patients weighing 40 kg and greater for treatment of active duodenal ulcer, active gastric ulcer, symptomatic nonerosive gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), and erosive esophagitis due to GERD diagnosed by biopsy. In adults, it is additionally indicated for treatment of pathological hypersecretory conditions, including Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, and for reduction of the risk of duodenal ulcer recurrence.
- Class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Gastrointestinal
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