heroin no relation anthelmintic
As an anthelmintic
Piperazine was marketed by Bayer as an anthelmintic in the early 20th century, and was featured in print ads alongside other popular Bayer products at the time, including heroin. In fact, a large number of piperazine compounds have an anthelmintic action. Their mode of action is generally by paralysing parasites, which allows the host body to easily expel the invasive organism. The neuromuscular effects are thought to be caused by blocking acetylcholine at the myoneural junction. This action is mediated by its agonist effects upon the inhibitory GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid) receptor. Its selectivity for helminths is because vertebrates use GABA only in the CNS, and the GABA receptor of helminths is of a different isoform from that of vertebrates.Piperazine hydrate, piperazine adipate and piperazine citrate (used to treat ascariasis and enterobiasis) are the most common anthelmintic piperazine compounds. These drugs are often referred to simply as "piperazine" which may cause confusion between the specific anthelmintic drugs, the entire class of piperazine-containing compounds, and the compound itself.
Diethylcarbamazine, a derivative of piperazine, is used to treat some types of filariasis.
no relation