Diazoxide, sold under the brand name Proglycem among others, is a medication used to treat low blood sugar due to a number of specific causes.[1] This includes islet cell tumors that cannot be removed and leucine sensitivity.[1] It can also be used in refractory cases of sulfonylurea toxicity.[2] It is taken by mouth.[1]
Diazoxide, used as the salt diazoxide choline, and sold under the brand name Vykat XR, is used for the treatment of hyperphagia in people with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS).[3] It was approved for this use in the United States in March 2025.[4]
Common side effects include high blood sugar, fluid retention, low blood platelets, a fast heart rate, increased hair growth, and nausea.[1] Other severe side effects include pulmonary hypertension and heart failure.[1] It is chemically similar to thiazide diuretics.[1] It works by decreasing insulin release from the pancreas and increasing glucose release by the liver.[1]
Diazoxide interferes with insulin release through its action on potassium channels.[9] Diazoxide is one of the most potent openers of the K+ ATP channels present on the insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas. Opening these channels leads to hyperpolarization of cell membrane, a decrease in calcium influx, and a subsequently reduced release of insulin.[2]
The elimination half-life of diazoxide has been reported to be 24 to 36hours in adults and 9.5 to 24hours in children.[15]
Research
Diazoxide was under development by Lakatos-Topol and Proanagen as a topicalsolution for the treatment of androgenic alopecia (pattern hair loss) and alopecia areata in the 1980s but was ultimately never marketed.[16][17] It was intended as a competitor and alternative to minoxidil (Rogaine) for such purposes.[16][17] The drug applied topically was found to promote scalp hair growth in balding stump-tailed macaques.[18][19][20][21]
Under the name Vykat XR, diazoxide choline is an approved therapy for Prader-Willi syndrome[3][22][23][24] and is under investigation for monogenic obesity caused by mutations in the SH2B1, PCSK1, or SIM1 genes.[25]
↑The selection and use of essential medicines 2023: web annex A: World Health Organization model list of essential medicines: 23rd list (2023). Geneva: World Health Organization. 2023. WHO/MHP/HPS/EML/2023.02.
↑British national formulary: BNF 76 (76 ed.). Pharmaceutical Press. 2018. p. 708. ISBN978-0-85711-338-2.
↑"Oedema formation with the vasodilators nifedipine and diazoxide: direct local effect or sodium retention?". Journal of Hypertension14 (8): 1041–1045. August 1996. doi:10.1097/00004872-199608000-00016. PMID8884561.
↑"Diazoxide prevents diabetes through inhibiting pancreatic beta-cells from apoptosis via Bcl-2/Bax rate and p38-beta mitogen-activated protein kinase". Endocrinology148 (1): 81–91. January 2007. doi:10.1210/en.2006-0738. PMID17053028.
↑"Control of insulin secretion by sulfonylureas, meglitinide and diazoxide in relation to their binding to the sulfonylurea receptor in pancreatic islets". Biochemical Pharmacology38 (8): 1217–1229. April 1989. doi:10.1016/0006-2952(89)90327-4. PMID2650685.
↑"Minoxidil use in dermatology, side effects and recent patents". Recent Pat Inflamm Allergy Drug Discov6 (2): 130–136. May 2012. doi:10.2174/187221312800166859. PMID22409453. "Other potassium channel openers, like diazoxide [39, 40] and pinacidil [41] can cause hypertrichosis in humans as well as minoxidil. In balding macaques minoxidil, cromakalin and P-1075 (a pinacidil analogue) stimulate hair growth in about 20 weeks of topical treatment, whereas a fourth potassium channel opener, called RP49356, is not effective [42].".
↑"Potassium channel conductance as a control mechanism in hair follicles". J Invest Dermatol101 (1 Suppl): 148S–152S. July 1993. doi:10.1111/1523-1747.ep12363290. PMID8326149. "The evidence that [potassium channel openers (PCOs)] are active on hair growth is correlative. In humans three PCOs have been reported to affect hair growth. Minoxidil was reported to induce hypertrichosis during early clinical trials as an antihypertensive [12]. These side effects were characterized by increasingly visual facial hair, thickening of eyebrows, and diffuse hair growth across the upper back and limbs. Systemic minoxidil induced hypertrichosis in 80–100% of adults [13]. Clinical trials using topical minoxidil demonstrate increased scalp hair in about 39% of treated balding men. Oral diazoxide causes hypertrichosis in most hypoglycemic children and about 1% of adults, and induces some scalp hair in 25% of the balding patients [13–15]. Systemic pinacidil induces hypertrichosis in 2–13% of patients [13]. We are not aware of any topical hair growth trials using pinacidil.".
↑"Allosteric potentiation by diazoxide of AMPA receptor currents and synaptic potentials". European Journal of Pharmacology247 (3): 257–265. November 1993. doi:10.1016/0922-4106(93)90193-D. PMID8307099.
↑ 16.016.1The Pink Sheet (3 March 1986). "Diazoxide Topical Solution Being Developed As Hair Growth Product". https://insights.citeline.com/PS009743/DIAZOXIDE-TOPICAL-SOLUTION-BEING-DEVELOPED-AS-HAIR-GROWTH-PRODUCT/. "DIAZOXIDE TOPICAL SOLUTION BEING DEVELOPED AS HAIR GROWTH PRODUCT by Lakatos-Topol Research Institute, the company announced in a Feb. 24 press release. Lakatos-Topol said it believes diazoxide is superior to Upjohn's Regaine (minoxidil) as a hair growth stimulant. The firm's release claims that diazoxide "produces a longer and thicker growth of hair" than the Upjohn product. [...] Upjohn has an NDA pending for the topical dosage form for treatment of male pattern baldness and alopecia areata. Lakatos-Topol said it has begun testing the hair growth product outside the U.S. and requested FDA permission to conduct tests in the U.S. An IND has not yet been filed. The firm has also applied for a U.S. patent. Based in Houston, Texas, Lakatos-Topol was formed in July 1985 and went public in January."
↑ 17.017.1The Pink Sheet (18 July 1988). "Proanagen's Diazoxide-Based Hair Growth Product Beginning Efficacy". https://insights.citeline.com/PS013994/PROANAGENs-DIAZOXIDEBASED-HAIR-GROWTH-PRODUCT-BEGINNING-EFFICACY/. "PROANAGEN's DIAZOXIDE-BASED HAIR GROWTH PRODUCT BEGINNING EFFICACY trials as a topically-applied prescription product for the treatment and prevention of hair loss, according to a spokesperson for Pittsburgh-based Proanagen. The company began human studies on the topical formula approximately one year ago, Proanagen said. [...] Large scale efficacy studies will determine if hair growth also occurs when diazoxide is administered topically. Proanagen recently signed a joint development agreement for the product with Schering-Plough and Shiseido. [...] Proanagen was formed in 1987 to develop the diazoxide-based hair loss treatment when Houston-based HRI Inc. (formerly Lakatos-Topol Research Institute) decided not to develop the product."
↑"Quantitative models for the study of hair growth in vivo". Ann N Y Acad Sci642 (1): 107–124. December 1991. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1991.tb24384.x. PMID1809079. Bibcode: 1991NYASA.642..107U. "Diazoxide, known as a hypertrichotic agent, also had a stimulatory effect on the bald vellus follicles of macaques." The sequential folliculograms after topical application of diazoxide (5% solution) in the bald scalp are shown in FIGURE 6. A typical folliculogram pattern of the bald scalp showed progressive changes in both folliculograms and quantitative bar graphs of vellus and terminal follicles during treatment.".
↑"The effects of topical diazoxide on hair follicular growth and physiology of the stumptailed macaque". J Dermatol Sci1 (3): 183–194. May 1990. doi:10.1016/0923-1811(90)90130-6. PMID2085505.
↑"Potassium channel conductance: a mechanism affecting hair growth both in vitro and in vivo". J Invest Dermatol98 (3): 315–319. March 1992. doi:10.1111/1523-1747.ep12499788. PMID1545141.