science

Tavaborole

Tavaborole is a science 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 Tavaborole rather than just read about it. In short: Tavaborole, sold under the brand name Kerydin, is a topical antifungal medication for the treatment of onychomycosis, a fungal infection of the nail and nail bed with a complete clearance rate of 6-7% and partial clearance rate of 23-24% in individuals whose “infection border does not reach the cuticle at the base of the large toenail.” Tavaborole was approved by the US FDA in July 2014. The medication inhibits an e…

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Tavaborole, sold under the brand name Kerydin, is a topical antifungal medication for the treatment of onychomycosis, a fungal infection of the nail and nail bed with a complete clearance rate of 6-7% and partial clearance rate of 23-24% in individuals whose “infection border does not reach the cuticle at the base of the large toenail.” Tavaborole was approved by the US FDA in July 2014. The medication inhibits an essential fungal enzyme, leucyl-tRNA synthetase, that is required for protein synthesis. The inhibition of protein synthesis leads to termination of cell growth and then cell death, eliminating the fungal infection.

Medical uses Tavaborole is used in the treatment of onychomycosis. In clinical trials, tavaborole was more effective than the vehicle (ethyl acetate and propylene glycol) alone in curing onychomycosis. In two studies, fungal infection was eliminated using tavaborole in 6.5% of the cases vs. 0.5% using the vehicle alone, and 27.5% vs. 14.6% using the vehicle alone.

Side effects Application site exfoliation, erythema (rash), and irritation are possible side effects, and may occur in less than 5% of individuals.

Pharmacology Tavaborole acts as an inhibitor of fungal leucyl-tRNA synthetase.

Pharmacokinetics Tavaborole, when prepared with a 1:1 mixture of ethyl acetate and propylene glycol, has the ability to fully penetrate through the human nail. In studies with cadaver fingernails, a 5% solution of tavaborole penetrated the nail an average of 524.7 mcg/cm2 after two weeks of daily use. Tavaborole is detectable in the blood at a level of 3.54 ng/mL after a single use of 0.2 mL of the 5% solution. Tavaborole has an elimination half-life of 28.5 hours, a maximum concentration of 5.17 ng/mL after two weeks of daily use, and takes 8 days to reach the maximum concentration.

Society and culture

Economics Tavaborole began phase III clinical trials in December 2010 and was approved by the US FDA in July 2014. Originally developed by Anacor, it is now marketed in the United States by Novartis subsidiary Sandoz. Anacor was paid US$65 million and also entered into a profit sharing scheme for future sales.

See also Crisaborole – a structurally related topical medication used for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis (eczema)

References

External links "Tavaborole". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Tavaborole

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Tavaborole claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, 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 Tavaborole 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 Tavaborole 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 Tavaborole

In research: Tavaborole appears in science 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 Tavaborole 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: Tavaborole is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics American inventions, Antifungals, Boronate esters, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Tavaborole 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.

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How to study Tavaborole in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Tavaborole 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 Tavaborole out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Tavaborole in simple terms?

Why does Tavaborole matter?

Because it connects several science 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 Tavaborole?

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 Tavaborole.