Introduction: Medicinal Inorganic chemistry 1

Question 1

What are four current clinical uses of metals in medication?

Answer 1

1. Anti-cancer agents
2. Diagnostic tools
3. Treatment of high phosphate levels
4. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis

Question 2

What are the 3 current research possibilities of metal use in medication?

Answer 2

1. Development of novel therapeutic agents
2. Interaction of metals and proteins
3. General functions of metals in living systems

Question 3

Define what medicinal inorganic chemistry is?

Answer 3

The use of metals ions and complexes for their clinical applications

Question 4

Define what metals are?

Answer 4

Solid whose electrical conductance decreases with increasing temperature

Question 5

What are the four ways that metals are used to interact with biomolecules?

Answer 5

1. Photodynamic therapy (PDT )
2. DNA deformation
3. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
4. Radio-pharmaceuticals for imaging and therapy

Question 6

What does the toxicity of a metal depend on?

Answer 6

1. Mode of action
2. Concentration: all metals at a high enough concentration is toxic
3. Essential and non essential elements

Question 7

What are the general uses of metal ions in humans?

Answer 7

1. Catalysing reactions: hydrolytic (carbonic anhydrase) and substrate transfer (haemoglobin, myoglobin)
2. Stabilising structure: protein, DNA and skeletal
3. Charge balancing: Osmotic balance and nerve function
4. Replication and information encoding

Question 8

What are the bulk biological elements that the human body is made of?

Answer 8

H, C, N, Cl, O, P and S

Question 9

What are the bulk metal ion nutrients that the human body is made of?

Answer 9

Na, Mg, K and Ca