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NCI Drug Dictionary


therapeutic hemin 
A sterile, lyophilized powder of hemin, the Fe3+ oxidation product of heme (Fe2+), derived from processed red blood cells. Therapeutic hemin appears to inhibit delta-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) synthetase, a rate-limiting enzyme in the porphyrin/heme biosynthetic pathway, resulting in inhibition of the hepatic and/or marrow synthesis of porphyrin precursors. The mechanism by which therapeutic hematin produces symptomatic improvement in patients with acute episodes of the hepatic porphyrias has not been determined. Check for active clinical trials or closed clinical trials using this agent. (NCI Thesaurus)
US brand name:Panhematin