chemistry

Trifluridine

Trifluridine 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 Trifluridine rather than just read about it. In short: Trifluridine (also called trifluorothymidine; abbreviation TFT or FTD) is an anti-herpesvirus antiviral drug, used primarily as prescription eyedrops. It was sold under the trade name Viroptic by Glaxo Wellcome, now merged into GlaxoSmithKline.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Trifluridine (also called trifluorothymidine; abbreviation TFT or FTD) is an anti-herpesvirus antiviral drug, used primarily as prescription eyedrops. It was sold under the trade name Viroptic by Glaxo Wellcome, now merged into GlaxoSmithKline. The brand is now wholly owned by King Pharmaceuticals. Trifluridine was approved for medical use in 1980. It is also a component of the anti-cancer drug trifluridine/tipiracil, which is taken by mouth.

Medical uses Trifluridine eye drops are used for the treatment of keratitis and keratoconjunctivitis caused by the herpes simplex virus types 1 and 2, as well as for prevention and treatment of vaccinia virus infections of the eye. A Cochrane Systematic Review showed that trifluridine and aciclovir were a more effective treatment than idoxuridine or vidarabine, significantly increasing the relative number of successfully healed eyes in one to two weeks.

Adverse effects Common side effects of trifluridine eye drops include transient burning, stinging, local irritation, and edema of the eyelids. Adverse effects of the anti-cancer formulation have only been evaluated for the combination trifluridine/tipiracil, not for the individual components.

Interactions Only in vitro interaction studies are available. In these, trifluridine used the concentrative nucleoside transporter 1 (CNT1) and equilibrative nucleoside transporters 1 (ENT1) and 2 (ENT2). Drugs that interact with these transporters could influence blood plasma concentrations of trifluridine. Being a thymidine phosphorylase inhibitor, trifluridine could also interact with substrates of this enzyme such as zidovudine. For the eye drops, trifluridine absorption is negligible, rendering interactions basically irrelevant.

Pharmacology

Mechanism of action (eye drops) It is a nucleoside analogue, a modified form of deoxyuridine, similar enough to be incorporated into viral DNA replication, but the –CF3 group added to the uracil component blocks base pairing, thus interfering with viral DNA replication.

Pharmacokinetics (eye drops) Trifluridine passes the cornea and is found in the aqueous humour. Systemic absorption is negligible.

Pharmacokinetics (oral)

Pharmacokinetic data of oral trifluridine have only been evaluated in combination with tipiracil, which significantly affects biotransformation of the former. At least 57% of trifluridine are absorbed from the gut, and highest blood plasma concentrations are reached after two hours in cancer patients. The substance has no tendency to accumulate in the body. Plasma protein binding is over 96%. Trifluridine is metabolised by the enzyme thymidine phosphorylase to 5-trifluoromethyl-2,4(1H,3H)-pyrimidinedione (FTY), and also by glucuronidation. Elimination half-life is 1.4 hours on the first day and increases to 2.1 hours on the twelfth day. It is mainly excreted via the kidneys. Tipiracil causes Cmax (highest blood plasma concentrations) of trifluridine to increase 22-fold, and its area under the curve 37-fold, by inhibiting thymidine phosphorylase.

Chemistry The substance is a white crystalline powder. It is freely soluble in methanol and acetone; soluble in water, ethanol, 0.01 M hydrochloric acid, and 0.01 M sodium hydroxide; sparingly soluble in isopropyl alcohol and acetonitrile; slightly soluble in diethyl ether; and very slightly soluble in isopropyl ether.

References

External links

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Trifluridine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Trifluridine 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 Trifluridine 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 Trifluridine 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 Trifluridine

In research: Trifluridine 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 Trifluridine 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: Trifluridine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anti-herpes virus drugs, Antineoplastic drugs, Drugs developed by GSK plc, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Trifluridine 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 Trifluridine in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Trifluridine in simple terms?

Why does Trifluridine 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 Trifluridine?

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 Trifluridine.