subacute myelo-optic neuropathy

Subacute myelo-optic neuropathy - an epidemic in Japan caused by clioquinol.

Subacute myelo-optic neuropathy (SMON) is an iatrogenic disease of the nervous system leading to a disabling paralysis, blindness and even death.

Clioquinol's use as an antiprotozoal drug has been restricted or discontinued in some countries due to an event in Japan where over 10,000 people developed SMON (subacute myelo-optic neuropathy) between 1957 and 1970.

Because the zinc chelating action of clioquinol has been associated with subacute myelo-optic neuropathy, the use of nitroxoline as a cytotoxic drug in the treatment of cancers should not exhibit neurotoxic effects in humans, and in vivo trials on tumor xenografts in mice have not yielded any negative neurodegenerative effects.