N-Chlorotaurine (NCT) is pharmaceutically synthesized as a sodium salt, which readily dissolves in water to formulate a topical antiseptic medication with the following benefits:
Safe
N-Chlorotaurine (NCT) is a mild oxidant created by white blood cells in the human immune system. It is far more gentle than stronger oxidants, e.g. household bleach (sodium hypochlorite), which immediately penetrate and instantaneously kill pathogens. NCT has low toxicity against human cells primarily due to its hydrophilic nature, which prevents it from entering cells, including red blood cells.
The topical application of 1% NCT (even in the lungs) avoids any adverse systemic interactions with other medications. It does not systemically circulate around the body, because it immediately reacts with blood and breaks down into miniscule amounts taurine and chloride which are undetectable against their relatively high physiological concentrations (the human body is made up of 0.1% taurine and 0.15% chloride by weight).
Tolerable
N-Chlorotaurine’s (NCT’s) creation by white blood cells in the human immune system demonstrates that the body has developed tolerance towards it at physiological concentrations, e.g. it does not affect endothelium at physiological concentrations. Using 1000-fold higher pharmacological concentrations of NCT (55 mM versus the 50 µM natural one), maintains outstanding tolerability and enhances the microbicidal activity. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2010; 65(3):399-409.
At a 1% NCT therapeutic concentration, the tolerability of NCT is very good when it is applied as a topical antiseptic to sensitive regions of the human body, e.g., the eye, skin, mucous membranes and paranasal sinuses. For example, at therapeutic 1% concentration, NCT only moderately and reversibly decreased the ciliary beat frequency (CBF) of epithelial cells of nasal mucosa, a very sensitive parameter for toxicity. The small influence of NCT (slightly greater than 0.9% saline) on CBF demonstrates its very low toxic potential on mucous membranes.
Hypoallergenic
Any allergic reactions to N-Chlorotaurine (NCT) are highly unlikely, since NCT is a small molecule (amino acid derivative) already produced by white blood cells during every inflammation. Moreover, allergic reactions to NCT have never been observed in numerous human clinical studies (e.g. ear, eye, nose and throat).
Economical
N-Chlorotaurine (NCT) is an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) synthesized from readily available substances into a pure sodium salt (as listed on PubChem), in a straightforward single-step chemical synthesis (shown below as a one-step reaction of taurine with an ethanolic solution of chloramine T).
The NCT sodium salt readily dissolves in water without a buffer to formulate a topical antiseptic medication that is exceptionally economical. A therapeutic concentration of 1% NCT in aqueous solution is relatively stable, and loses only about 10% oxidation capacity if kept refrigerated for a year, or at room temperature for a month.