Boric acid exhibits minimal bacteriostatic and antifungal activities ⁴. Boric acid is likely to mediate antifungal actions at high concentrations over prolonged exposures ³.

Mechanism of action

Information regarding the mechanism of action of boric acid in mediating its antibacterial or antifungal actions is limited. Boric acid inhibits biofilm formation and hyphal transformation of Candida albicans, which are critical virulence factors ³. In addition, arrest of fungal growth was observed with the treatment of boric acid ³.

Absorption

Boric acid is well absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, open wounds, and serous cavities but displays limited absorption in intact skin ⁴. Following intraperitoneal injection in mice, the peak concentration was reached in about 1.0-1.5 hr in the brain whereas the value was 0.5 hr in other tissues ⁴.

Volume of distribution

Volume of distribution ranges from 0.17 to 0.5 L/kg in humans, where large amounts of boric acid are localized in brain, liver, and kidney ⁴.

Protein binding

No protein binding reported.

Metabolism

No metabolic pathways reported.

Route of elimination

Regardless the route of administration, boric acid predominantly undergoes rapid renal excretion of >90% of total administered dose as unchanged form. Small amounts are also excreted into sweat, saliva, and feces. Following administration as ointment, urinary excretion of boric acid accounted for only 1% of the administered dose ⁴.

Half-life

According to human cases of poisoning, the elimination half-life of boric acid ranges from 13 to 24 hours ^2,4.

Clearance

A case report of acute boric acid poisoning following oral ingestion of 21 g of boric acid presents the total body clearance of 0.99 L/h before hemodialysis ².

Adverse Effects

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Toxicity

The acute oral LD₅₀ in rats is 4500-5000 mg/kg and the intradermal LD₅₀ in rabbits is 10,000 mg/kg.⁶ Individuals are likely to be exposed to boric acid from industrial manufacturing or processing. Local tissue injury from boric acid exposure is likely due to caustic effects. Systemic effects from boric acid poisoning usually occur from multiple exposures over a period of days and involve gastrointestinal, dermal, CNS, and renal manifestations. Gastrointestinal toxicity include persistent nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, epigastric pain, hematemesis, and blue-green discoloration of the feces and vomit ⁴. Following the onset of GI symptoms, a characteristic intense generalized erythroderma follows ⁴. Management of mild to moderate toxicity should be supportive. In case of severe toxicity, dialysis may be required in addition to supportive treatment.

Pathways

Not Available

Pharmacogenomic Effects/ADRs

Not Available

Interactions

Drug Interactions: This information should not be interpreted without the help of a healthcare provider. If you believe you are experiencing an interaction, contact a healthcare provider immediately. The absence of an interaction does not necessarily mean no interactions exist.
Not Available
Food Interactions: No interactions found.

Products

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Product Ingredients

Ingredient	UNII	CAS	InChI Key
Sodium borate decahydrate	91MBZ8H3QO	1303-96-4	CDMADVZSLOHIFP-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Active Moieties

Name	Kind	UNII	CAS	InChI Key
Borate ion	ionic	44OAE30D22	12258-53-6	GDTSJMKGXGJFGQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N

Over the Counter Products

Name	Dosage	Strength	Route	Labeller	Marketing Start	Marketing End
Sodium Borate	Powder		Topical	Lab Valmo EnregistrÉ, Division Of Technilab Inc.	1979-12-31	1999-09-17
กลีเซอรีน โบแรกซ์	Solution	12 g/100ml	Oral	ห้างหุ้นส่วนจำกัด โรงงานผลิตยาอันอันโอสถ	Not applicable	Not applicable
ยาป้ายลิ้น ตราจระเข้บิน	Solution	12 g/100ml	Oral	ห้างหุ้นส่วนจำกัด พัฒนาการเภสัช	1986-07-01	2020-09-29

Mixture Products

Name	Ingredients	Dosage	Route	Labeller	Marketing Start	Marketing End
Calcemin Advance	Sodium borate decahydrate (2.45 mg/1) + Calcium carbonate (500 mg/1) + Magnesium oxide (40 mg/1) + Previtamin D(3) (3 mg/1) + Zinc oxide (7.5 mg/1)	Tablet, film coated	Oral	Bayer Healthcare Llc.	2016-04-01	Not applicable
Collyre Hygienique Soker	Sodium borate (1.89 mg / mL) + Boric acid (11.1 mg / mL)	Liquid	Ophthalmic	Produits Francais Labs Inc.	1978-12-31	1997-05-30
Eye Eze	Sodium borate (.18 %) + Boric acid (1.11 %)	Liquid	Ophthalmic	Pharmavite Laboratories (1987) Inc.	1958-12-31	2006-07-27
EYE GLO PLUS EYE DROPS	Sodium borate (0.3 %) + Boric acid (1.3 %) + Witch hazel (5 %)	Solution / drops	Ophthalmic	Duopharma Marketing Sdn. Bhd.	2020-09-08	2021-12-12
EYE GLO REGULAR EYE DROPS	Sodium borate (0.25 %) + Boric acid (1 %)	Solution / drops	Ophthalmic	Duopharma Marketing Sdn. Bhd.	2020-09-08	2021-12-12
Glycothymoline	Sodium borate (20 mg / mL) + Sodium benzoate (20 mg / mL)	Liquid	Topical	Glendale Agencies	1951-12-31	1996-11-29
Ma Ying Long Hemorrhoidal	Sodium borate decahydrate (0.2 g/10g) + Amber (0.1 g/10g) + Borneol (0.2 g/10g) + Bos taurus gallstone (0.1 g/10g) + Moschus berezovskii musk sac resin (0.15 g/10g) + Pearl (hyriopsis cumingii) (0.25 g/10g) + Zinc carbonate (0.65 g/10g)	Ointment	Topical	Trifecta Pharmaceuticals Usa, Llc.	2016-01-14	Not applicable
Miel Rosada	Sodium borate decahydrate (0.1 mg/1mL) + Glycerin (0.4 mg/1mL)	Solution	Topical	Dannso corp./d.b.a. Essential Products	2015-01-01	Not applicable
Occu-cal Drops	Sodium borate (1.9 mg / mL) + Boric acid (11.16 mg / mL) + Phenylephrine hydrochloride (.2 mg / mL)	Solution / drops	Ophthalmic	Produits Francais Labs Inc.	1981-12-31	1997-05-30
Occu-cal Lotion	Sodium borate (1.896 mg / mL) + Boric acid (11.1 mg / mL) + Phenylephrine hydrochloride (.01 mg / mL)	Lotion	Ophthalmic	Produits Francais Labs Inc.	1981-12-31	1997-05-30

Unapproved/Other Products

Name	Ingredients	Dosage	Route	Labeller	Marketing Start	Marketing End	Region	Image
Ma Ying Long Hemorrhoidal	Sodium borate decahydrate (0.2 g/10g) + Amber (0.1 g/10g) + Borneol (0.2 g/10g) + Bos taurus gallstone (0.1 g/10g) + Moschus berezovskii musk sac resin (0.15 g/10g) + Pearl (hyriopsis cumingii) (0.25 g/10g) + Zinc carbonate (0.65 g/10g)	Ointment	Topical	Trifecta Pharmaceuticals Usa, Llc.	2016-01-14	Not applicable

Chemical Identifiers

UNII: 8191EN8ZMD
CAS number: 1330-43-4
InChI Key: UQGFMSUEHSUPRD-UHFFFAOYSA-N
InChI: InChI=1S/B4O7.2Na/c5-1-7-3-9-2(6)10-4(8-1)11-3;;/q-2;2*+1
IUPAC Name: disodium bicyclo[3.3.1]tetraboroxane-3,7-bis(olate)
SMILES: [Na+].[Na+].[O-]B1OB2OB([O-])OB(O1)O2

References

General References

Iavazzo C, Gkegkes ID, Zarkada IM, Falagas ME: Boric acid for recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis: the clinical evidence. J Womens Health (Larchmt). 2011 Aug;20(8):1245-55. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2010.2708. Epub 2011 Jul 20. [Article]
Teshima D, Morishita K, Ueda Y, Futagami K, Higuchi S, Komoda T, Nanishi F, Taniyama T, Yoshitake J, Aoyama T: Clinical management of boric acid ingestion: pharmacokinetic assessment of efficacy of hemodialysis for treatment of acute boric acid poisoning. J Pharmacobiodyn. 1992 Jun;15(6):287-94. [Article]
De Seta F, Schmidt M, Vu B, Essmann M, Larsen B: Antifungal mechanisms supporting boric acid therapy of Candida vaginitis. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2009 Feb;63(2):325-36. doi: 10.1093/jac/dkn486. Epub 2008 Dec 4. [Article]
BORIC ACID - National Library of Medicine HSDB Database- Toxnet - NIH [Link]
Boric Acid - National Toxicology Program - NIH [Link]
Fisher Scientific: Sodium Borate MSDS [Link]

External Links

ChemSpider: 8395345
Wikipedia: Borax

Clinical Trials

Clinical Trials

Phase	Status	Purpose	Conditions	Count
4	Completed	Not Available	Corneal Staining	1
4	Completed	Treatment	Thyroid Eye Disease	1

Pharmacoeconomics

Manufacturers

Not Available

Packagers

Not Available

Dosage Forms

Form	Route	Strength
Tablet, film coated	Oral
Liquid	Topical
Ointment	Topical
Solution	Topical
Liquid	Ophthalmic
Powder	Topical
Powder	Topical
Jelly	Vaginal
Solution	Oral	12 g/100ml
Solution	Ophthalmic
Lotion	Ophthalmic
Solution / drops	Ophthalmic

Prices

Not Available

Patents

Not Available

Properties

State

Not Available

Experimental Properties

Not Available

Predicted Properties

Property	Value	Source
logP	4.68	Chemaxon
pKa (Strongest Acidic)	8.35	Chemaxon
pKa (Strongest Basic)	-5	Chemaxon
Physiological Charge	0	Chemaxon
Hydrogen Acceptor Count	7	Chemaxon
Hydrogen Donor Count	0	Chemaxon
Polar Surface Area	92.27 Å²	Chemaxon
Rotatable Bond Count	0	Chemaxon
Refractivity	9.64 m³·mol^-1	Chemaxon
Polarizability	11.89 Å³	Chemaxon
Number of Rings	2	Chemaxon
Bioavailability	1	Chemaxon
Rule of Five	Yes	Chemaxon
Ghose Filter	No	Chemaxon
Veber's Rule	No	Chemaxon
MDDR-like Rule	No	Chemaxon

Predicted ADMET Features

Not Available

Spectra

Mass Spec (NIST): Not Available
Spectra: Not Available

Drug created at July 11, 2018 21:16 / Updated at December 08, 2023 12:55

Sodium borate

Identification

Structure for Sodium borate (DB14505)

Pharmacology

Interactions

Products

Categories

Chemical Identifiers

References

Clinical Trials

Pharmacoeconomics

Properties

Spectra