Salicylic acid as a medication is commonly used to remove the outer layer of the skin: used to treat warts, psoriasis, acne vulgaris, ringworm, dandruff, and ichthyosis.
Salicylic acid is an ingredient in many skincare products for the treatment of seborrhoeic dermatitis, acne, psoriasis, calluses, corns, keratosis pilaris, acanthosis nigricans, ichthyosis, and warts.
Salicylic acid is used as a food preservative, a bactericide, and an antiseptic.
It isnis used in the production of other pharmaceuticals, including 4-aminosalicylic acid, sandulpiride, and landetimide.
It is a starting material for making acetylsalicylic acid better known as aspirin.
Aspirin is prepared by the esterification of the phenolic hydroxyl group of salicylic acid with the acetyl group from acetic anhydride or acetyl chloride.
Bismuth subsalicylate, a salt of bismuth and salicylic acid, is the active ingredient in stomach-relief aids such as Pepto-Bismol.
Bismuth subsalicylate is the main ingredient of Kaopectate, and has anti-inflammatory action and also acts as an antacid and mild antibiotic.
Methyl salicylate used as a liniment to soothe joint and muscle pain and choline salicylate used topically to relieve the pain of mouth ulcers.
Aminosalicylic acid is used to induce remission in ulcerative colitis, and has been used as an antitubercular agent often administered in association with isoniazid.
Salicylic acid modulates COX-1 enzymatic activity to decrease the formation of pro-inflammatory prostaglandins.
Salicylate may competitively inhibit prostaglandin formation.
Salicylate’s antirheumatic actions are a result of its analgesic and anti-inflammatory mechanisms.
Topical salicylic acid works by causing the cells of the epidermis to slough off more readily, and allowing room for new cell growth.
High concentrations of salicylic ointment are applied to a large percentage of body surface, can enter the blood.
Salicylates inhibit wound-healing due to its actions on mucopolysaccharide synthesis.
Salicylic acid as its conjugate base is a chelating agent, with an affinity for iron.
High-salicylate beverages and foods include beer, coffee, tea, numerous fruits and vegetables, sweet potato, nuts, and olive oil.
Meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy products, sugar, breads and cereals have low salicylate content.
Sensitivity to dietary salicylates may have symptoms of allergic reaction, such as bronchial asthma, rhinitis, gastrointestinal disorders, or diarrhea.
Salicylic acid is a phenolic phytohormone, and is found in plants with roles in plant growth and development, photosynthesis, transpiration, ion uptake and transport, endogenous signaling, mediating plant defense against pathogens.
Salicylic acid plays a role in the resistance to pathogens by inducing the production of pathogenesis-related proteins and other defensive metabolites.
The volatile methyl ester of salicylic acid, methyl salicylate, diffuses through the air, facilitating plant-plant communication.
Methyl salicylate is taken up by the stomata of the nearby plant, inducing an immune response after being converted back to salicylic acid.