Piroctone Olamine

Piroctone olamine is an antibacterial and antifungal agent.^1,2 It is active against S. aureus, B. subtilis, E. coli, P. aeruginosa, and C. albicans at 0.5%.¹ Piroctone olamine, when applied as a shampoo, decreases ear canal and neck colony-forming units (CFUs) in naturally Malassezia-infected beagle dogs.² It also decreases the levels of the T-box transcription factors TBX2 and TBX3 in 501-mel melanoma and Rh30 alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma cells at 10 µM and decreases the viability of the same cells (EC₅₀s = 12.18 and 31.29 µM, respectively).³ Piroctone olamine also decreases histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6) levels, increases beclin 1, a marker of autophagy, and acetylated lysine 9 on histone H3 (H3K9Ac) levels, and reduces tumor volume and weight in an MC-38 syngeneic mouse model of colon carcinoma.⁴ Formulations containing piroctone olamine have been used in shampoos for the management of dandruff.

WARNING This product is not for human or veterinary use.

1. Zaika, S.V., Strilets, O.P., Baranova, I.I., et al. Research of antimicrobic activity of foaming products samples with octopirox. Annals of Mechnikov Institute N 1, 54-57 (2020).

2. Bordeau, P., Blumstein, P., Marchand, A.-M., et al. An in vivo procedure to evaluate antifungals agents on Malassezia pachydermatis in dogs: Example with a piroctone olamine containing shampoo. J. Mycol. Med. 16(1), 9-15 (2006).

3. Bleloch, J.S., Lu, S., Khan, S.F., et al. A high-throughput drug repurposing strategy to treat TBX2 and/or TBX3 dependent cancers. Cancer Med. 13(19), e70303 (2024).

4. Cui, C.Y., Li, Q.T., Xiang, X.Y., et al. Piroctone olamine promotes BECN1 transcription and activates autophagy by targeting HDAC6 in colorectal cancer. Acta Pharmacol. Sin. 47(8), 2224-2239 (2026).