chemistry

Mesalazine

Mesalazine is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Mesalazine rather than just read about it. In short: Mesalazine, also known as mesalamine or 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), is a medication used to treat inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It is generally used for mildly to moderately severe disease.

Key takeaways

Mesalazine belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Mesalazine to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Mesalazine from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Mesalazine, also known as mesalamine or 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA), is a medication used to treat inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. It is generally used for mildly to moderately severe disease. It is taken by mouth or rectally. The formulations which are taken by mouth appear to be similarly effective. Common side effects include headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and fever. Serious side effects may include pericarditis, liver problems, and kidney problems. Use in pregnancy and breastfeeding appears safe. In people with a sulfa allergy certain formulations may result in problems. Mesalazine is an aminosalicylate and anti-inflammatory. It works by direct contact with the intestines. Mesalazine was approved for medical use in the United States in 1987. It is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines. It is available as a generic medication. In 2023, it was the 202nd most commonly prescribed medication in the United States, with more than 2 million prescriptions.

Medical uses

It is used to treat inflammatory bowel disease, including ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease (effective only in colonic diseases). In 2022 Germany introduced guidance to use mesalamine to treat acute uncomplicated diverticulitis.

Side effects Most often reported side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Very rarely, use of mesalazine has been associated with an exacerbation of the symptoms of colitis, Stevens–Johnson syndrome, and erythema multiforme.

Pregnancy There is no data on use in pregnant women, but the drug does cross the placenta and is excreted in breast milk. The drug should not be used in children under two years of age, people with kidney disease, or people who are allergic to aspirin.

Mechanism of action The exact mechanism of mesalazine is unknown, but it is speculated that mesalazine decreases synthesis of prostaglandin and leukotriene, modulating the inflammatory response derived from the cyclooxygenase and lipooxygenase pathways. It appears to act locally on colonic mucosa. In 2025, mesalazine was reported to bind tubulin and stabilize microtubules.

Chemistry Mesalazine is an active metabolite of sulfasalazine, which is metabolized to sulfapyridine and mesalazine. It is also the active metabolite of the prodrugs balsalazide (accompanied by the inert carrier molecule 4-aminobenzoyl-β-alanine) and olsalazine (which is metabolized to two equivalents of mesalazine). It is in the category of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) family of medications. It is unclear exactly how it works. Mesalazine is claimed to be a PPAR-γ agonist. Mesalazine has application in the synthesis of Crisdesalazine, Fendosal [53597-27-6] & Parsalmide [30653-83-9].

Society and culture

Brand names Mesalazine is sold under various names including Apriso, Asacol, Asacol HD, Canasa, Delzicol, Fivasa, Lialda, Salofalk, Pentasa, Rowasa, Octasa, and Sfrowasa. In Europe, it is sold under the name Salofalk (rectal suppository).

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Mesalazine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Mesalazine claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Mesalazine before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Mesalazine ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Mesalazine

In research: Mesalazine appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Mesalazine in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Mesalazine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anilines, Anti-inflammatory agents, Antioxidants, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Mesalazine outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Mesalazine” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Mesalazine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Mesalazine means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Mesalazine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Mesalazine in simple terms?

Why does Mesalazine matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Mesalazine?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Mesalazine.