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Off-target activity

Drug biological activity

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 4, 2026
Entity authorityQ39088332 ↗
Source-derived summary

Off-target activity is biological activity of a drug that is different from and not directed at that of its intended biological target. It most commonly contributes to side effects. However, in some cases, off-target activity can be taken advantage of for therapeutic purposes.

An example of this is the repurposing of the antimineralocorticoid and diuretic spironolactone, which was found to produce feminization and gynecomastia as side effects, for use as an antiandrogen in the treatment of androgen-dependent conditions like acne and hirsutism in women.

Metformin also causes off-target activity.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Off-target activity” as drug biological activity. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Off-target, activity and Drug.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current 89-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Off-target, activity and Drug providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Off-target activity”, the useful work is to connect “drug biological activity” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q39088332. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Off-target activity”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Off-target activity primary sources, Off-target activity archive and Off-target research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Off-target activity”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Off-target activity” 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.