What is the Difference Between Bifonazole and Clotrimazole

The key difference between bifonazole and clotrimazole is their effectiveness. Bifonazole is less effective compared to clotrimazole.

Bifonazole and clotrimazole are two antifungal medications. Bifonazole is a medication that falls under the class of imidazole antifungal drugs. Clotrimazole is an antifungal medication that is commercially available in the trade name Lotrimin.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Bifonazole  
3. What is Clotrimazole
4. Bifonazole vs Clotrimazole in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Bifonazole vs Clotrimazole

What is Bifonazole?

Bifonazole is a medication that comes under the class of imidazole antifungal drugs. The trade name of this drug is Canespor. This substance is useful in the form of ointments. The patent for this drug was obtained in 1974, and it was approved for medical use in 1983. Moreover, there are combinations of this substance with carbamide when treating onychomycosis.

Figure 01: The Chemical Structure of Bifonazole

Bifonazole is used for fungal infections like jock itch, ringworm, fungal skin rash and yeast infections. The route of administration of bifonazole is topical administration. It is commercially available as an over-the-counter drug. The chemical formula of bifonazole is C22H18N2.

There can be some side effects of using this drug, including a burning sensation when applied on the skin, itching, eczema, skin dryness, etc. We can identify this drug as a potent aromatase inhibitor in vitro.

Bifonazole has two modes of action. First, it can inhibit the fungal ergosterol biosynthesis at two specific points: the transformation of 24-methylendihydrolanosterl to desmethylsterol and the inhibition of HMG-CoA. These two steps can enable fungicidal properties. This action is effective mainly against dermatophytes. We can distinguish this drug from other antifungal drugs depending on this specific mode of action.

What is Clotrimazole?

Clotrimazole is an antifungal medication that is commercially available in the trade name Lotrimin. We can use this drug to treat vaginal yeast infections, oral thrush, diaper rash, pityriasis versicolor, and different types of ringworm forms, including athlete’s foot and jock itch. Moreover, we can take it orally, or we can apply it to the skin as a cream.

Figure 02: The Chemical Structure of Clotrimazole

There can be some side effects of clotrimazole, including nausea and itchiness when taken orally and redness and burning sensation when applied on the skin. This medication first came into fame in 1969, and it is available as a generic medication.

The bioavailability of clotrimazole is poor or negligible. Its protein binding ability is around 90%. The metabolism of clotrimazole occurs in the liver. The elimination half-life of this medication is about 2 hours.

What is the Difference Between Bifonazole and Clotrimazole?

Bifonazole is a medication that comes under the class of imidazole antifungal drugs. Clotrimazole is an antifungal medication that is commercially available in the trade name Lotrimin. The key difference between bifonazole and clotrimazole is that bifonazole is less effective compared to clotrimazole. In addition, bifonazole is usually available as an ointment, whereas clotrimazole is available as a topical cream and oral medication.

Besides, both medications have side effects. Bifonazole can result in effects like burning sensation when applied on the skin, itching, eczema, skin dryness, etc., while clotrimazole can cause nausea and itchiness when taken orally and redness and burning sensation when applied on the skin.

The below infographic presents the differences between bifonazole and clotrimazole in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Bifonazole vs Clotrimazole

Bifonazole is a medication that comes under the class of imidazole antifungal drugs. Clotrimazole is an antifungal medication that is commercially available in the trade name Lotrimin. The key difference between bifonazole and clotrimazole is that bifonazole is less effective compared to clotrimazole.

Reference:

1. “Bifonazole: View Uses, Side Effects and Medicines.” 1mg.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Bifonazole” By Fvasconcellos 00:26, 28 August 2007 (UTC) – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Clotrimazole” By Vaccinationist – Own work using: PubChem (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia

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