Why Metronidazole Is Active against both Bacteria and Parasites

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Abstract
Metronidazole is one of the rare examples of a drug developed against a parasite which has since gained broad use as an antibacterial agent (24). Briefly, at Rhone-Poulenc labs in France, extracts of Streptomyces spp. were screened for activity against Trichomonas vaginalis, a cause of vaginal itching. Azomycin, a nitroimidazole, was identified, and metronidazole, a synthetic derivative, was used to treat chronic trichomonad infections, beginning in 1959 (66). Metronidazole was shown to be efficacious against Entamoeba histolytica, the cause of amebic dysentery and liver abscess, in 1966 (67). Giardia lamblia (also known asG. duodenalis) was treated with metronidazole after this luminal parasite was recognized as a cause of malabsorption and epigastric pain in the 1970s (102).