CHLOROTHIAZIDE is a new, orally effective diuretic agent chemically related to acetazolamide. Curiously, it is a considerably less potent carbonic anhydrase inhibitor, at least in vitro and, in vivo, its effect has been found additive to that of acetazolamide as it is to the action of the mercurials. Laragh's observations suggest that chlorothiazide inhibits the process of solute reabsorption which normally gives rise to "free" water in the urine. Thus, it may well have a locus of action in the kidney different from that of its chemical cousin or the mercury derivities. There have been optimistic reports of its efficacy in a variety of edema states including nephrosis, cirrhosis of the liver, congestive heart failure, acute hemorrhagic nephritis and chronic renal insufficiency.
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