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Metals in medicine are used in organic systems for diagnostic and treatment purposes. [1] Inorganic elements are also essential for organic life as cofactors in enzymes called metalloproteins . When metals are under or over-abundant in the body, equilibrium must be returned to its natural state via interventional and natural methods.
A metallopharmaceutical is a drug that contains a metal as an active ingredient. [1] [2] Most commonly metallopharmaceuticals are used as anticancer or antimicrobial agents. The efficiency of metallopharmaceuticals is crucially dependent on the respective trace metal binding forms. [3] Examples of metallopharmaceuticals include:
Sometimes these species are referred to as "gold salts". "Chrysotherapy" and "aurotherapy" are the applications of gold compounds to medicine. [1] Research on the medicinal effects of gold began in 1935, [2] primarily to reduce inflammation and to slow disease progression in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The use of gold compounds has ...
Metal ions and metallic compounds are often used in medical treatments and diagnoses. [18] Compounds containing metal ions can be used as medicine, such as lithium compounds and auranofin. [19] [20] Metal compounds and ions can also produce harmful effects on the body due to the toxicity of several types of metals. [18]
The medical uses of silver include its use in wound dressings, creams, and as an antibiotic coating on medical devices. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] [ 4 ] Wound dressings containing silver sulfadiazine or silver nanomaterials may be used to treat external infections.
Bioinorganic chemistry is a field that examines the role of metals in biology.Bioinorganic chemistry includes the study of both natural phenomena such as the behavior of metalloproteins as well as artificially introduced metals, including those that are non-essential, in medicine and toxicology.
Metals have become so central to cellular function that the collection of metal-binding proteins (referred to as the metallomes) accounts for over 30% of all proteins in the cell. Metals are known to be involved in over 40% of enzymatic reactions, and metal-binding proteins carry out at least one step in almost all biological pathways. [1]
Chelation therapy is a medical procedure that involves the administration of chelating agents to remove heavy metals from the body. [1] Chelation therapy has a long history of use in clinical toxicology [2] and remains in use for some very specific medical treatments, although it is administered under very careful medical supervision due to various inherent risks, including the mobilization of ...