What is "racecadotril"

n. An antidiarrheal drug that is a peripherally-acting enkephalinase inhibitor.

Racecadotril, also known as acetorphan, is an antidiarrheal drug which acts as a peripherally acting enkephalinase inhibitor. Unlike other opioid medications used to treat diarrhea, which reduce intestinal motility, racecadotril has an antisecretory effect—it reduces the secretion of water and electrolytes into the intestine. It is available in France (where it was first introduced in ~1990) and other European countries (including Germany, Italy, the UK and Spain) as well as most of South America and some South East Asian countries (including China, India and Thailand), but not in the United States. It is sold under the tradenames Hidrasec or, in France, Tiorfan. In Italy it is sold under the tradename Tiorfix.

Thiorphan is the active metabolite of racecadotril, which exerts the bulk of its inhibitory actions on enkephalinase.