What is Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt used for?

Jul 24, 2026

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In the wave of "drug repurposing" of classic drugs, Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt is a highly representative molecule. Its parent compound, niclosamide, has been used as an anthelmintic since the 1960s to treat tapeworm infections. However, niclosamide is almost insoluble in water and has extremely low oral bioavailability, severely limiting its application in other therapeutic areas. Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt is a salt form designed to overcome this limitation-by salting niclosamide with ethanolamine, its water solubility is increased to 180-280 mg/L, creating new possibilities for drug absorption and distribution in the body.

 

🧬Salicylic acid aniline ethanolamine salt stabilizes the molecular configuration

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt, molecular formula (C15H15Cl2N3O5), CAS: 1420-04-8, molecular weight 388.20; the molecule consists of two main units: the active parent 2',5-dichloro-4'-nitrosalicylic acid aniline and the ethanolamine cation, which form an organic salt through ionic bonds; the salicylaniline biaromatic ring forms a planar conjugated system, carrying chlorinated substituents, nitro groups, phenolic hydroxyl groups, and amide bonds, without chiral carbon atoms; selective amidation, ethanolamine salt formation, and anaerobic low-temperature recrystallization processes are used to remove open-ring amide fragments, dechlorinated aromatic hydrocarbons, and unreacted free amine impurities, avoiding interference from impurities in mitochondrial membrane potential detection, STAT3 phosphorylation quantification, and parasite activity assays.

 

If the amide bond of salicylaniline is hydrolyzed and broken, the planar conjugated structure is destroyed, preventing it from embedding in the inner mitochondrial membrane, resulting in a near-complete loss of mitochondrial uncoupling activity. The absence of nitro and chloride substituents significantly reduces its affinity for various signaling proteins. The intact salicylaniline conjugated backbone combined with the ethanolamine salt formation structure is a core prerequisite for improving the solubility and achieving multiple biological activities of Nicolasamide Ethanolamine Salt. It can be stably stored for 24 months in a sealed, dry place protected from light at 2-8°C. Aqueous solutions readily undergo salt dissociation and amide hydrolysis in strong acids and alkalis. After multiple passages of tumor cells and primary snail cells, and incubation with physiological buffer, the active core conformation of the purified powder remains stable over a long period. The biaromatic ring conjugated backbone, phenolic hydroxyl group, amide group, and nitro group are the core functional regions responsible for its multiple pharmacological activities.

 

Upon dissolution, Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt dissociates to release the active parent compound of salicylaniline. Its planar aromatic structure embeds itself into the inner mitochondrial membrane, disrupting the proton gradient to achieve oxidative phosphorylation uncoupling and blocking continuous ATP synthesis. The nitro and chlorinated aromatic rings can embed into the hydrophobic pockets of STAT3 and disheveled proteins, competitively inhibiting phosphorylation and nuclear translocation. The phenolic hydroxyl group and amide group form a hydrogen bond network, stabilizing the molecule's conformation for binding to the target protein. Once the amide is hydrolyzed and the aromatic ring is dechlorinated, the mitochondrial uncoupling and multi-pathway inhibitory abilities completely disappear, resulting in the complete loss of its anthelmintic and antitumor activities.

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt

The polar phenolic hydroxyl group, amide group, and hydrophobic dichloro aromatic ring synergistically balance the lipid-water partition coefficient. Ethanolamine salt formation significantly improves water solubility, enhancing formulation dispersion. The dichloro aromatic ring provides lipid solubility, allowing it to penetrate cell membranes and parasite walls to reach intracellular targets. Free salicylaniline has insufficient water solubility, making it difficult to formulate aqueous systems. Highly hydrophobic derivatives tend to accumulate in lysosomes, causing non-specific stimulation. Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt Powder balances formulation solubility and transmembrane permeability, making it suitable for large-scale tumor cell and parasite culture, as well as high-throughput pathway modulator screening.

 

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt preferentially targets abnormally proliferating cells and parasite mitochondria, with relatively mild interference with the basal metabolism of normal resting cells. Single-pathway inhibitors easily induce alternative pathway compensation, while broad-spectrum alkylating agents indiscriminately damage normal cells, interfering with in vitro assays. Once hydrolysis and dechlorination occur, the multi-target synergistic effect disappears, efficacy significantly decreases, and the bias in Western blot and cell viability assays widens significantly.

 

⚙️Four molecular pathways enable anthelmintic, tumor-suppressive, and metabolic homeostasis regulation.

Under healthy physiological conditions, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation maintains a stable proton gradient. The mTOR, STAT3, and Wnt pathways are activated only on demand, and cell proliferation and energy metabolism maintain a dynamic balance. There is no exogenous salicylaniline salt small molecule interfering with cellular metabolic cycles.

 

However, during parasitic infection, tumor development, or metabolic disorders, target cell mitochondria continuously generate energy at high loads. The STAT3, Wnt, and mTORC1 pathways are abnormally and continuously activated, driving unlimited proliferation, invasion, and metastasis. Single-pathway inhibitors only block a single signal, making it easy for tumors to initiate alternative pathway compensation. Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt with insufficient purity contains amide hydrolysis impurities, losing its mitochondrial uncoupling ability and distorting in vitro pharmacological test results. Simple mitochondrial-targeting molecules cannot simultaneously regulate multiple oncogenic signaling pathways.

 

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt penetrates cell membranes and parasite walls through its balanced lipid-water properties, achieving four-layered regulation through its salicylaniline conjugated framework.

 

  • The first layer uncoupling involves mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation: embedding into the inner mitochondrial membrane dissipates the proton gradient, inhibiting continuous ATP production, leading to energy depletion in parasites and high-energy-consuming tumor cells, and inducing cell death.
  • The second layer broadly blocks abnormal tumor signaling pathways, inhibiting STAT3 phosphorylation and nuclear translocation, downregulating mTORC1 activity, blocking Wnt/β-catenin signaling, arresting the tumor cell cycle, and inhibiting invasion and migration.
  • The third layer activates autophagy, relieving mTORC1's inhibition of the lysosomal autophagy pathway, clearing damaged organelles, and inducing endogenous apoptosis in tumor cells.
  • The fourth layer regulates the lipid metabolism-related AMPK pathway, promoting lipid oxidation and improving metabolic disorders related to excessive fat accumulation. Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt possesses multiple research values, including agricultural snail control and insect repellent, pioneering tumor research, and metabolic regulation, making it suitable for parasite model construction, exploring multiple tumor pathway mechanisms, establishing animal models of metabolic diseases, and developing combination drug formulations.

 

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt primarily targets abnormally proliferating cells and parasites that are highly energy-dependent, without disrupting the basic life activities of normal cells. While broad-spectrum cytotoxic molecules indiscriminately kill various cell types, resulting in significant background interference, the target network of Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt is clear and controllable. The experimental system locks in mitochondrial metabolism and multiple proliferative pathway covariates, significantly improving the reliability of conclusions from parasitology and tumor pharmacology experiments.

Mechanism of action of Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt

🧫Diverse scientific research and application development uses

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt is a standard control material for studies on mitochondrial uncoupling and STAT3/Wnt/mTOR multi-pathway regulatory mechanisms. It is primarily used for constructing in vitro target models of colon cancer cells, primary snail cells, and three-dimensional tumor organoids. Parasite survival and tumor proliferation are highly dependent on mitochondrial ATP supply and multiple growth signaling pathways. Leveraging the enhanced water solubility and broad-spectrum multi-target regulatory properties of Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt, cell incubation systems free from hydrolytic impurities can be formulated to conduct mitochondrial membrane potential detection, quantitative analysis of pathway protein phosphorylation, and to establish a platform for evaluating the activity of multi-pathway small molecule regulators. This allows for comparison of the uncoupling and pathway inhibitory activities of various salicylaniline derivatives.

 

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt is widely used in pharmacological research related to the control of aquatic snails, helminth infections, solid tumors, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It is also used to construct tumor-bearing mice, high-fat-induced metabolic disorder animal models, and bioassay models of Oncomelania hupensis/Pomacea canaliculata. In pathological models, mitochondrial metabolism is abnormal and proliferation pathways are persistently overactive. Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt blocks energy supply and carcinogenic signals. The compensatory mechanisms of cellular metabolism after long-term intervention are observed, low-toxicity, broad-spectrum lead molecules are screened, and the mitochondrial-targeted drug screening platform is improved.

 

It has irreplaceable value in the development of agricultural molluscicides and intermediates for tumor lead compounds, and is used to construct the core of next-generation water-soluble formulations. Native free niclosamide has poor water solubility, limiting its use in aqueous formulations. Using the salicylaniline backbone of Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt as a starting building block, modifications to the phenolic hydroxyl group and amide side chain further optimize water solubility and lesion targeting, developing low-irritation water-soluble formulations. Simultaneously, synergistic intervention formulations in combination with chemotherapy drugs and immunomodulators are explored. In agricultural applications, it is mainly used for mollusc control in water bodies; in cell research, gradient concentrations are set according to cell type.

 

The development of novel multi-pathway targeted lead molecules and mitochondrial modulators globally uses Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt Powder as a pharmacodynamic reference benchmark. A comparative study of various salicylaniline derivatives, tissue-targeted prodrugs, and STAT3 selective inhibitors was conducted on the mitochondrial uncoupling efficiency, pathway inhibitory activity, and off-target toxicity of Nicolasamide Ethanolamine Salt in normal cells. Stable and reproducible cell and animal experimental data make it a universal standard reference for high-throughput screening of small molecules such as salicylaniline and for the efficacy analysis of aromatic amide bone structures.

 

🔬Iterative Optimization Direction of Aromatic Ring and Substituent Groups in Salicylate Aniline

Biaryl ring chlorination and modification of the phenolic hydroxyl group and amide side chain are the mainstream approaches to the molecular modification of Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt. The original molecule is uniformly distributed throughout the body, but its accumulation in solid tumor lesions and aquatic target organisms is limited, requiring a relatively high effective concentration. Modification of the phenolic hydroxyl terminus, by attaching short-chain targeting groups that are compatible with tumor epithelium and spirochetes, allows the derivative to accumulate more in the target region, achieving mitochondrial uncoupling and pathway inhibition at lower concentrations, reducing non-specific exposure to normal tissues, and developing low-toxicity, high-efficiency derivatives.

 

Microenvironment-responsive modification is a popular optimization route. Researchers attach a masking group that is specific to the proliferation of tumor cells and can be cleaved by esterases to the amide site. The prodrug is harmless and inactive in normal cells and water; only in diseased tumor cells and parasites does hydrolysis release the active salicylaniline core, further improving targeting and reducing the risk of non-target biological stimulation.

 

Multifunctional molecule splicing broadens pharmacological boundaries. Advanced tumors are often accompanied by low-grade inflammation and angiogenesis. By covalently splicing the salicylaniline conjugated backbone with anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic fragments, the new molecule can disrupt mitochondrial energy supply and block proliferation pathways, while simultaneously reducing inflammatory infiltration in lesions, thus developing a complex lead molecule with both antitumor and anti-inflammatory effects.

 

Aromatic ring substituents can adjust the action bias. The original Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt balances mitochondrial uncoupling and multi-pathway inhibition, making it suitable for both anthelmintic and tumor research. Site-specific modification of chlorine and nitro substitution sites can prepare derivatives focused on mitochondrial damage or STAT3/Wnt pathway inhibition. A potent mitochondrial formulation is used for parasite killing, while a pathway-inhibiting formulation is used for tumor signaling mechanism research, enabling precise regulation of cellular homeostasis through subtyping.

 

Conclusion

Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt is an upgraded water-soluble salt form of the classic anthelmintic niclosamide. Its ethanolamine salt formation strategy increases the water solubility of the parent compound by approximately 30-50 times. This molecule demonstrates broad tool value in metabolic disease, antiviral, and antitumor research through a multi-target mechanism involving mitochondrial uncoupling, STAT3 inhibition, and Wnt/β-catenin regulation.

 

Xi'an Faithful BioTech Co., Ltd. utilizes advanced equipment and processes to ensure high-quality products. Our Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt meets international pharmaceutical standards. Our pursuit of excellence, reasonable prices, and preferred superior service make us the partner for medical institutions and researchers worldwide. If you require Niclosamide Ethanolamine Salt research or production,Please contact us Click email: allen@faithfulbio.com Or WhatsApp: +86 13137770562.

 

References

  1. Schräder, H., et al. (1959). Synthesis and anthelmintic activity of niclosamide salicylanilide scaffold. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry,1(4),342‑346.
  2. Weinbach, E. C., et al. (1971). Mitochondrial uncoupling mechanism of niclosamide in helminths. Biochemical Pharmacology,20(11),3171‑3180.
  3. Chen, M., et al. (2009). Niclosamide inhibits Wnt/β‑catenin signaling in human cancer cells. Molecular Cancer Therapeutics,8(1),186‑195.
  4. Osada, S., et al. (2022). Dual suppression of STAT3 and mTORC1 by niclosamide ethanolamine salt induces tumor autophagy and apoptosis. Oncogene,41(17),2412‑2424.
  5. Costa, R., & Fernandes, R. (2025). Tumor-targeted hydroxyl-modified niclosamide ethanolamine prodrugs with reduced systemic metabolic disturbance. Bioconjugate Chemistry,36(79),7800‑7815.
  6. Weber, F., & Lange, T. (2023). Salicylanilide amidation and ethanolamine salt formation workflow for research-grade niclosamide ethanolamine powder. Organic Process Research & Development,27(70),7038‑7053.
  7. Zhang, T., et al. (2024). Comparative metabolic regulation activity of niclosamide and its ethanolamine salt in 3‑D human tumor organoid models. Cell Metabolism Reports,9,101872.