Methenamine was first discovered as a
chemical compound in 1859. The drug was described as rapidly
sterilizing and thereby restoring
putrid and
pus-filled urine to a normal appearance and constitution. The drug name
methenamine, a contraction of the chemical or scientific name
hexamethylenetetramine, was formally introduced and designated by the
United States Pharmacopeia (USP) by 1925 and replaced the prior name of the drug that was being used of
hexamethylenamine. The alternative drug name
hexamine was introduced in the
British Pharmacopoeia (BP) by 1914 to be used instead of the commercial name
Urotropin. Interest in methenamine declined after the discovery of the
antibiotic penicillin in 1928 and it has been described as a "forgotten drug". However, there was a surge of interest in methenamine from the 1950s to the 1980s. The
topical form of methenamine for treatment of hyperhidrosis was introduced around 1965. Subsequently, there was another decline in interest in methenamine from 1980 until 2010. However, there has been another resurgence in interest in methenamine for recurrent UTI prevention since 2010 owing to increasing rates of
bacterial resistance with antibiotics. Larger and higher-quality
clinical trials of methenamine for UTI prevention, such as the
United Kingdom ALTAR trial, have started to be published in the 2020s, and additional trials, such as the international
European ImpresU trial, are also underway as of 2024. ==Society and culture==