4-Aminobenzoic acid

Also Known As: Potaba, 4-Aminobenzoic acid

4-Aminobenzoic acid (also known as para-aminobenzoic acid or PABA because the number 4 carbon in the benzene ring is also known as the para position) is an organic compound with the formula H2NC6H4CO2H. PABA is a white grey crystalline substance that is only slightly soluble in water. It consists of a benzene ring substituted with an amino group and a carboxyl group.

Medical use

The potassium salt is used as a drug against fibrotic skin disorders, such as Peyronie's disease, under the trade name Potaba.[8] PABA is also occasionally used in pill form by sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome to treat its associated gastrointestinal symptoms, and in nutritional epidemiological studies to assess the completeness of 24-hour urine collection for the determination of urinary sodium, potassium, or nitrogen levels.

Nutritional supplement

Despite the lack of any recognized syndromes of PABA deficiency in humans, many claims of benefit are made by commercial suppliers of PABA as a nutritional supplement. Benefit is claimed for fatigue, irritability, depression, weeping eczema (moist eczema), scleroderma (premature hardening of skin), patchy pigment loss in skin (vitiligo), and premature grey hair.[9]

Oral supplements of PABA can make the skin less sensitive to sun damage.

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