Therefore it can accumulate in the environment (mostly surface water).It has a long lifetime in the environment so different degradation reactions are researched:
The photocatalytic degradation of sulfacetamide in water solutions during illumination of UV radiation with TiO2 was examined. It was found that sulfacetamide is resistant to biodegradation and that it is toxic to the green alga Chlorella vulgaris. It undergoes photocatalytic degradation and the toxicity of the intermediate products is significantly lower than the initial toxicity. The intermediates can be mineralized in contrast to sulfacetamide.Sulfonamide → organic intermediate products (degradation) (in presence of OH−). At higher temperatures sulfacetamide solutions degrade to its hydrolysed product, sulphanilamide with a first-order rate constant.Also oxidation of sulfacetamide by diperiodatocuperate(III) in an aqueous alkaline medium can occur. Copper(III) is used, as it is involved in many biological electron transfer reactions.The sulphanilamide can oxidise to a blue product with a first order reaction and it can form azo dye with a second order reaction. Available forms
Sulfacetamide as a medicine is available as solution, eye drops, lotion, and powder. It can also be found in the form of the sodium salt, sulfacetamide sodium.It is available in fixed-dose combinations with prednisolone. Mechanisms of action
Sulfacetamide is a sulfonamide antibiotic. Sulfonamides are synthetic bacteriostatic antibiotics, that are active against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. It blocks the synthesis of dihydrofolic acid by inhibiting the enzyme dihydropteroate synthase. It is a competitive inhibitor of bacterial para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA). PABA is required for bacterial synthesis of folic acid and it is an essential component for bacterial growth.
The hereditary ataxias can be inherited in an autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or X-linked manner. Many types of autosomal dominant cerebellar ataxias for which specific genetic information is available are now known. Synonyms for autosomal-dominant cerebellar ataxias (ADCA) used prior to the current understanding of the molecular genetics were Maries ataxia, inherited olivopontocerebellar atrophy, cerebello-olivary atrophy, or the more generic term "spinocerebellar degeneration." (Spinocerebellar degeneration is a rare inherited neurological disorder of the central nervous system characterized by the slow degeneration of certain areas of the brain. There are three forms of spinocerebellar degeneration: Types 1, 2, 3. Symptoms begin during adulthood.) There are five typical autosomal-recessive disorders in which ataxia is a prominent feature: Friedreich ataxia, ataxia-telangiectasia, ataxia with vitamin E deficiency, ataxia with oculomotor apraxia (AOA), spastic ataxia. Disorder subdivisions: Friedreichs ataxia, Spinocerebellar ataxia, Ataxia telangiectasia, Vasomotor ataxia, Vestibulocerebellar, Ataxiadynamia, Ataxiophemia, and Olivopontocerebellar atrophy. There have been reported cases where a polyglutamine expansion may lengthen when passed down, which often can result in an earlier age-of-onset and a more severe disease phenotype for individuals who inherit the disease allele. This falls under the category of genetic anticipation. Several types of SCA are characterized by repeat expansion of the trinucleotide sequence CAG in DNA that encodes a polyglutamine repeat tract in protein. The expansion of CAG repeats over successive generations appears to be due to slipped strand mispairing during DNA replication or DNA repair.