Table 1.

Pharmacological treatment of amebiasis.

Amebiasis	Drug	Doses	Advantages	Side effects	References
Asymptomatic carrier	Teclozan	500 mg orally (two times a day) over 3 days	High efficacy (80 and 93%) Few side effects No teratogenic effect	Abdominal pain, flatulence, and nausea	Werner Apt, 2014
	Etofamide	500 mg orally (three times a day) over 3 days	Good efficacy (92%) Long half life Short treatment	Flatulence, vomiting, urticaria, pruritis	Werner Apt, 2014
	Diloxanide furoate	500 mg orally (three times a day)	High efficacy (83%) Rapidly absorbed Low toxicity	Flatulence, nausea, and vomiting	Pehrson and Bengtsson, 1983
	Paromomycin	30 mg/kg/day	High efficacy (85%) Use during breastfeeding No nephrotoxicity	Diarrhea, gastrointestinal symptoms	Haque et al., 2003
Amebic colitis	Metronidazole	750 mg orally (three times a day) over 7–10 days	High efficacy (90%) Good bioavailability	Anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, and metallic aftertaste	Li and Stanley, 1996; Haque et al., 2003; Marie and Petri, 2013
	Tinidazole	800 mg orally (three times a day) over 7 days	Long half life Good distribution in tissues	Anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and metallic aftertaste	Pehrson and Bengtsson, 1983
	Iodoquinol	650 mg orally (three times a day)	Highly selective	Headache, nausea, vomiting, and optic nerve damage	Stanley, 2003
Amebic liver abscess (ALA)	Metronidazole	750 mg IV over 5–10 days	High efficacy (90–100%) good bioavailability in tissues	Dizziness, headache, gastritis, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, stomach upset, and metallic taste	Calleja Bello and Colin Abarranco, 1979; Li and Stanley, 1996; Haque et al., 2003; Marie and Petri, 2013
	Tinidazole	800 mg orally (three times a day) over 7 days	Long half life Good distribution in tissues	Anorexia, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and metallic aftertaste	Pehrson and Bengtsson, 1983