Rimantadine

Rimantadine is an adamantane antiviral that was used to prevent and treat influenza A. Widespread resistance among circulating viruses has made it rarely recommended.

Influenza A virus: An influenza virus species that infects humans and other animals and causes seasonal epidemics and occasional pandemics. Rimantadine was used against this virus, not influenza B.
William W. Prusoff: An American pharmacologist whose research contributed to the development of antiviral drugs, including rimantadine. His group helped establish rimantadine as an antiviral candidate.
Influenza prophylaxis: The use of preventive measures, including medicines, to reduce the chance of influenza infection. Rimantadine was once used to prevent influenza A infection.
Antiviral drug resistance: The ability of viruses to replicate despite exposure to antiviral medicines that once inhibited them. Rimantadine’s decline is a clear example of resistance limiting a drug’s usefulness.
M2 proton channel: A proton-selective ion channel in the influenza A virus envelope that helps acidify the viral interior after cell entry. Rimantadine blocks this channel in susceptible influenza A strains.
Adamantane: A saturated, cage-shaped hydrocarbon whose structure appears in several antiviral drugs. Rimantadine belongs to this chemical family.
Influenza treatment: Measures used to manage influenza, including supportive care and antiviral medicines. Rimantadine was used to treat influenza A when circulating strains were susceptible.
Influenza A virus M2 S31N mutation: A substitution of asparagine for serine at position 31 of influenza A M2, associated with adamantane resistance. This common channel mutation makes many influenza A viruses resistant to rimantadine.
Viral uncoating: The process by which a virus sheds its protective coat to make its genome available inside a host cell. Blocking M2 disrupts the acid-dependent uncoating step.
Amantadine: An adamantane drug once used against influenza A and Parkinson’s disease, rendered ineffective against influenza by widespread resistance. It is rimantadine’s close structural and pharmacological relative.

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