Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A drug class is a group of medications and other compounds that share similar chemical structures, act through the same mechanism of action (i.e., binding to the same biological target), have similar modes of action, and/or are used to treat similar diseases. [1] [2] The FDA has long worked to classify and license new medications.
Commonly, terpenes contain 2, 3, 4 or 6 isoprene units; the tetraterpenes (8 isoprene units) form a separate class of compounds called carotenoids; the others are rare. The basic unit isoprene itself is a hemiterpene. It may form oxygen-containing derivatives such as prenol and isovaleric acid analogous to terpenoids.
Medicinal or pharmaceutical chemistry is a scientific discipline at the intersection of chemistry and pharmacy involved with designing and developing pharmaceutical drugs. Medicinal chemistry involves the identification, synthesis and development of new chemical entities suitable for therapeutic use.
[1] [4] Chemicals in this family can act either directly by stimulating the nicotinic or muscarinic receptors (thus mimicking acetylcholine), or indirectly by inhibiting cholinesterase, promoting acetylcholine release, or other mechanisms. [5] Common uses of parasympathomimetics include glaucoma, Sjögren syndrome and underactive bladder. [6]
The phrase "drug design" is similar to ligand design (i.e., design of a molecule that will bind tightly to its target). [6] Although design techniques for prediction of binding affinity are reasonably successful, there are many other properties, such as bioavailability, metabolic half-life, and side effects, that first must be optimized before a ligand can become a safe and effictive drug.
Mefenamic acid is a member of the anthranilic acid derivatives (or fenamate) class of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and is used to treat mild to moderate pain. [4] [5] Its name derives from its systematic name, dimethylphenylaminobenzoic acid. It was discovered and brought to market by Parke-Davis as Ponstel in the 1960s.
Tetracyclines are composed of a rigid skeleton of 4 fused rings. [2] The rings structure of tetracyclines is divided into an upper modifiable region and a lower non modifiable region. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] An active tetracycline requires a C10 phenol as well as a C11-C12 keto-enol substructure in conjugation with a 12a-OH group and a C1-C3 diketo ...
With advances in medicinal chemistry, most modern antibacterials are semisynthetic modifications of various natural compounds. [79] These include, for example, the beta-lactam antibiotics , which include the penicillins (produced by fungi in the genus Penicillium ), the cephalosporins , and the carbapenems .