It is a member of a family of drugs called hydroxyquinolines which inhibit certain enzymes related to DNA replication.

[citation needed] It has long been recognized that normal prostate cells have high zinc content through ZIP1 mediated uptake, and have low respiration (OXPHOS ATP generation is diverted to citrate export for sperm energetics).

[11] Research at UCSF indicates that clioquinol appears to block the genetic action of Huntington's disease in mice and in cell culture.

[12] Recent animal studies have shown that clioquinol can reverse the progression of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases.

[14] In addition, a study performed in Drosophila demonstrates that clioquinol can slow the pathogenesis of tauopathy model by removing the excessive zinc in the cell.