Detailed Product Description

Mannitol is an organic compound with the formula (C₆H₈(OH)₆). This polyol is used as an osmotic diuretic agent and a weak renal vasodilator. It was originally isolated from the secretions of the flowering ash, called manna after their resemblance to the Biblical food, and is also be referred to as mannite and manna sugar.

Mannitol is used clinically to reduce acutely raised intracranial pressure until more definitive treatment can be applied, e.g. after head trauma. This use is controversial, though reference to it is still made in texts published as recently as 2009. It is also used to treat patients with oliguric renal failure. It is administered intravenously, and is filtered by the glomeruli of the kidney, but is incapable of being resorbed from the renal tubule, resulting in decreased water and Na⁺ reabsorption via its osmotic effect. Consequently, mannitol increases water and Na⁺ excretion, thereby decreasing extracellular fluid volume.

Mannitol can also be used to open the blood-brain barrier by temporarily shrinking the tightly coupled endothelial cells that make up the barrier. This makes mannitol indispensable for delivering various drugs directly to the brain (e.g. in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease). Mannitol is commonly used in the circuit prime of a heart lung machine during cardiopulmonary bypass. The presence of mannitol preserves renal function during the times of low blood flow and pressure, while the patient is on bypass. The solution prevents the swelling of endothelial cells in the kidney, which may have otherwise reduced blood flow to this area and resulted in cell damage.

Mannitol is also being developed by Australian pharmaceutical company as a treatment for cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis and as a diagnostic test for airway hyperresponsiveness. The mannitol is orally inhaled as a dry powder through what is known as an osmohaler and osmotically draws water into the lungs to thin the thick, sticky mucus characteristic of cystic fibrosis. This is intended to make it easier for the sufferer to cough the mucus up during physiotherapy. The critical characteristic of the mannitol is its particle size distribution.

Mannitol is also the first drug of choice for the treatment of acute glaucoma in veterinary medicine. It is administered as a 20% solution IV. It dehydrates the vitreous humor and thus lower the intraocular pressure. However, it requires an intact blood-ocular barrier to work.

Mannitol can also be used to temporarily encapsulate a sharp object (such as a helix on a lead for an artificial pacemaker) while it is passed through the venous system. Because the mannitol dissolves readily in blood, the sharp point will become exposed at its destination.

Mannitol may be administered in cases of severe Ciguatera poisoning. Severe ciguatoxin, or "tropical fish poisoning" can produce stroke-like symptoms.

Mannitol is the primary ingredient of Mannitol Salt Agar, a bacterial growth medium, and is used in others.

In oral doses larger than 20 g, mannitol acts as an osmotic laxative, and is sometimes sold as a laxative for children