Cysteamine
chemical compound
Cysteamine is an organosulfur compound with the formula HSCH2CH2NH2. A white, water-soluble solid, it contains both an amine and a thiol functional group. It is often used as the salt of the ammonium derivative [HSCH2CH2NH3]+, including the hydrochloride, and the bitartrate. Another derivative is phosphocysteamine, H3NCH2CH2SPO3Na. The intermediate pantetheine is broken down into cysteamine and pantothenic acid.
It is biosynthesized in mammals, including humans, by the degradation of coenzyme A. It is the biosynthetic precursor to the neurotransmitter hypotaurine.
Medical uses
As a medication sold under the brand names Procysbi or Cystagon, among others, cysteamine is indicated to treat cystinosis, a lysosomal storage disease characterized by the abnormal accumulation of cystine, the oxidized dimer of the amino acid cysteine. It removes the excessive cystine that builds up in cells of people with the disease. Cysteamine functions by the following chemical reaction converting the disulfide cystine to a more soluble mixed disulfide and cysteine, both of which are more soluble than cystine.
(SCH2CH(NH3)CO−2)2 + HSCH2CH2NH2 → H2NCH2CH2SSCH2CH(NH3)CO−2 + HSCH2CH(NH3)CO−2
It is available by mouth (capsule and extended release capsule) and in eye drops.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 8, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q617563. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cysteamine” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.