Small molecule
PubChem CID 4679
Pantoprazole
Protonix
- Mechanism of action
- Proton pump (H+/K+ ATPase) inhibitor
- In plain language
- Permanently switches off the acid pumps in the stomach lining, so the body has to make new pumps before acid production can start up again.
- How it works
- Pantoprazole is a benzimidazole-derived proton pump inhibitor (PPI) that suppresses the final step in gastric acid production by covalently and irreversibly binding to the (H+, K+)-ATPase enzyme system at the secretory surface of the gastric parietal cell. Because the drug requires acid activation, it accumulates selectively in the acidic parietal cell canaliculi, where it forms a covalent bond with the proton pump. This blocks both basal and stimulated acid secretion regardless of the stimulating agent — histamine, acetylcholine, or gastrin — and the antisecretory effect persists until new pump molecules are synthesized, giving a duration of action that outlasts the drug's own plasma half-life. This mechanism is shared with the other proton pump inhibitors already on this site, omeprazole and esomeprazole.
- Therapeutic applications
- Per FDA-approved labeling, pantoprazole (Protonix) is indicated for short-term treatment of erosive esophagitis associated with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) in adults and pediatric patients five years of age and older, for maintenance of healing of erosive esophagitis and reduction of relapse rates of daytime and nighttime heartburn symptoms in adults with GERD, and for long-term treatment of pathological hypersecretory conditions, including Zollinger-Ellison syndrome.
- Class
- Small molecule
- Therapeutic area
- Gastrointestinal
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