PAMAQUINE

synthetic chemical drug introduced into medicine in 1926. It is related to both quinine and quinacrine and is used in treating malaria. It was the first of a series of important antimalarial drugs to be derived from 6-methoxyquinoline, a constituent of the naturally occurring drug quinine. Pamaquine is a liquid; its solid salt, pamaquine pamoate, was used successfully in the treatment of malaria, although toxic reactions led to its displacement by related but less toxic drugs, such as chloroquine, primaquine, and amodiaquin. Toxic effects include blood diseases such as methemoglobinemia and leukopenia as well as toxic hepatitis.