1-docosanol 1-docosanol 1-docosanol names preferred iupac name docosan-1-ol other names behenic alcohol behenyl alcohol cachalot be-22 1-docosanol n-docosanol docosyl alcohol emery 3304 loxiol vpg 1451 identifiers cas number 661-19-8 y 3d model (jsmol) interactive image beilstein reference 1770470 chebi chebi:31000 y chembl chembl1200453 n chemspider 12100 y drugbank db00632 y echa infocard 100.010.498 ec number 211-546-6 kegg d03884 y mesh docosanol pubchem cid 12620 rtecs number jr1315000 unii 9g1oe216xy y comptox dashboard (epa) dtxsid4027286 inchi inchi=1s/c22h46o/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23/h23h,2-22h2,1h3 ykey: nopfsrxakwqils-uhfffaoysa-n yinchi=1/c22h46o/c1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14-15-16-17-18-19-20-21-22-23/h23h,2-22h2,1h3key: nopfsrxakwqils-uhfffaoyab smiles cccccccccccccccccccccco properties chemical formula c22h46o molar mass 326.609 g·mol−1 melting point 70 °c; 158 °f; 343 k boiling point 180 °c; 356 °f; 453 k at 29 pa log p 10.009 pharmacology atc code d06bb11 (who) routes ofadministration topical legal status us: otc eu: rx-only except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in their standard state (at 25 °c , 100 kpa). n verify (what is yn ?) infobox references 1-docosanol, also known as behenyl alcohol, is a saturated fatty alcohol containing 22 carbon atoms, used traditionally as an emollient, emulsifier, and thickener in cosmetics. in july 2000, docosanol was approved for medical use in the united states as an antiviral agent for reducing the duration of cold sores. it is an over-the-counter medication (otc). it is sold under the brand name abreva among others. side effects one of the most common side effects that has been reported from docosanol is headache. headaches caused by the medication tend to be mild and can occur in any region of the head. in clinical trials, headache occurred in 10.4% of people treated with docosanol cream and 10.7% of people treated with placebo. the most serious side effects, although rare, are allergic reactions. some of the patients experienced the symptoms of allergic reactions, including difficulty breathing, confusion, angioedema (facial swelling), fainting, dizziness, hives or chest pain. other side effects may include: acne, burning, dryness, itching, rash, redness, acute diarrhea, soreness, swelling. mechanism of action docosanol is thought to act by inhibiting the fusion of the human host cell with the viral envelope of the herpes virus, thus preventing its replication. history the drug was approved as a cream for oral herpes after clinical trials by the fda in july 2000. it was shown to shorten the healing by 17.5 hours on average (95% confidence interval: 2 to 22 hours) in a placebo-controlled trial. another trial showed no effect when treating the infected backs of guinea pigs. two experiments with n-docosanol cream failed to show statistically significant differences by any parameter between n-docosanol cream and vehicle control–treated sites or between n-docosanol and untreated infection sites. society and culture controversy in march 2007, it was the subject of a us nationwide class-action suit against avanir and glaxosmithkline as the claim that it cut recovery times in half was found to have been misleading in a california court, but the case was eventually settled and the "cuts healing time in half" claim had not been used in product advertising for some years.