Thiazide

Thiazide
Drug class
Chlorothiazide, the first thiazide drug
Class identifiers
Use	hypertension, edema
ATC code	C03A
Biological target	sodium-chloride symporter
External links
MeSH	D049971
Legal status
In Wikidata

Thiazide (/ˈθaɪəzaɪd/) refers to both a class of sulfur-containing organic molecules^[1] and a class of diuretics based on the chemical structure of benzothiadiazine.^[2] The thiazide drug class was discovered and developed at Merck and Co. in the 1950s.^[3] The first approved drug of this class, chlorothiazide, was marketed under the trade name Diuril beginning in 1958.^[3] In most countries, thiazides are the least expensive antihypertensive drugs available.^[4]

Thiazide organic molecules are bi-cyclic structures that contain adjacent sulfur and nitrogen atoms on one ring.^[5] Confusion sometimes occurs because thiazide-like diuretics such as indapamide are referred to as thiazides despite not having the thiazide chemical structure.^[6] When used this way, "thiazide" refers to a drug which acts at the thiazide receptor.^[7] The thiazide receptor is a sodium-chloride transporter that pulls NaCl from the lumen in the distal convoluted tubule. Thiazide diuretics inhibit this receptor, causing the body to release NaCl and water into the lumen, thereby increasing the amount of urine produced each day.^[6] An example of a molecule that is chemically a thiazide but not used as a diuretic is methylchloroisothiazolinone, often found as an antimicrobial in cosmetics.^[8]