| Clinical data | |
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| AHFS/Drugs.com | International Drug Names |
| ATC code | |
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| CAS Number | |
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| KEGG | |
| ECHA InfoCard | 100.132.944  |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C12 H23 NO6 X2 |
| Molar mass | 277.315 |
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Colextran (INN) is a bile acid sequestrant. Chemically, it is an ether of dextran and diethylethanolamine. [1]
The bile acid sequestrants are a group of resins used to bind certain components of bile in the gastrointestinal tract. They disrupt the enterohepatic circulation of bile acids by combining with bile constituents and preventing their reabsorption from the gut. In general, they are classified as hypolipidemic agents, although they may be used for purposes other than lowering cholesterol. They are used in the treatment of chronic diarrhea due to bile acid malabsorption.
Ethers are a class of organic compounds that contain an ether group—an oxygen atom connected to two alkyl or aryl groups. They have the general formula R–O–R′, where R and R′ represent the alkyl or aryl groups. Ethers can again be classified into two varieties: if the alkyl groups are the same on both sides of the oxygen atom, then it is a simple or symmetrical ether, whereas if they are different, the ethers are called mixed or unsymmetrical ethers. A typical example of the first group is the solvent and anesthetic diethyl ether, commonly referred to simply as "ether" (CH3–CH2–O–CH2–CH3). Ethers are common in organic chemistry and even more prevalent in biochemistry, as they are common linkages in carbohydrates and lignin.
Dextran is a complex branched glucan (polysaccharide derived from the condensation of glucose. IUPAC defines dextrans as "Branched poly-α-d-glucosides of microbial origin having glycosidic bonds predominantly C-1 → C-6". Dextran chains are of varying lengths.
