Mesoxalylurea

Mesoxalyl urea: history of discovery, significance in medicine Mesoxalyl urea is another name for methotrexate, a drug - an antitumor agent, a cytostatic, an alkylating agent. Its chemical structure differs significantly from the entire group of antimetabolites used today. The main mechanism of biological action of methotrexate is the inactivation of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase and subsequent disruption of the synthesis and recovery of folic acid and its metabolite tetrahydrofolate, which leads to disruption of the synthesis of purines and pyrimidines (thymidine, deoxyuridine and deoxycytidine) and, as a consequence, cell division of proliferating cells. Tumor cells are especially sensitive to the action of the drug. Clinically more significant is the inhibition of the proliferation of tumor cells of the skin (keratomas), mucous membranes of the oral cavity and gastrointestinal tract (breast, cervix, leukoplakia, squamous cell carcinoma), respiratory organs (sarcoidosis), lymphatic system (leukemia, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma), and also solid (small cell lung cancer, choriocarcinoma, follicular lymphoma