Eflornithine hydrochloride, a specific and irreversible inhibitor of ornithine decarboxylase enzyme, is a medication used for the treatment of African trypanosomiasis and excessive facial hair growth in women.

Eflornithine is the only new molecule registered for the treatment of human African trypanosomiasis over the last 50 years. It is the drug used mainly as a back-up for melarsoprol refractory Trypanosoma brucei gambiense cases[1]. In subjects with excessive, unwanted facial hair, eflornithine 15% cream is superior to placebo in reducing hair growth. After 24 weeks' treatment, 58% of eflornithine and 34% of placebo subjects have at least some improvement in facial hirsutism[2]. The hair growth inhibitory activity of eflornithine is significantly enhanced when the eflornithine cream is applied onto a mouse skin area pretreated with microneedles[3]. Treatment of coarctation hypertensive rats with eflornithine results in a normalization of the contractile intensity to KCI and norepinephrine and relaxations to acetylcholine by 14 days of hypertension[4].