Find-a-Drug

If our interpretation is correct, it will be quite impossible to find a drug that will act with complete uniformity on all human beings. In order for this to be accomplished, variation, the cornerstone of evolution, and biochemical individuality would have to be abolished. 

The authors have encountered some patients refractory to all other therapies who had a dramatic, full, rapid, and sustained response to methylphenidate. One study found methylphenidate effective in treating mildly depressed outpatients, particularly those who drank three or more cups of coffee a day ( 191). A replication study did not find a drug-placebo difference on the physician s ratings, but did demonstrate one for the patients subjective assessment of improvement ( 192). Another blind study of methylphenidate found improvement in an outpatient group (193). Finally, two of three trials of methylphenidate in apathetic, senile geriatric patients showed that this drug produced more improvement than placebo (194). To date, no evidence indicates that it is beneficial in cases of moderate-to-severe depression. 

Amyloid Fibers in Disease Several small aromatic molecules, such as phenol red (used as a nontoxic drug model), have been shown to inhibit the formation of amyloid in laboratory model systems. A goal of the research on these small aromatic compounds is to find a drug that would efficiently inhibit the formation of amyloid in the brain in people with incipient Alzheimer s disease. 

The search is still on to find a drug as effective and far-reaching as aspirin but which does not produce the side effect of slight stomach bleeding. Perhaps the Cox-2 group of compounds might be its successor. 

The aim is to find a drug lead or a drug from a drug lead, by optimising the structure toward some biological receptor. Often the mechanisms of binding to a biological receptor are unknown and the optimal structure has to... 

People who abuse drugs, whether legal or illegal, usually find tliemselvcs in social trouble on all levels. The alcoholic lather who can t provide for his family and antagonizes his friends and coworkers is a classic example. The heroin addict who steals from a friend to buy his next fix is another. In fact, it is rare to find a drug abuser who does not provoke some degree of social conflict. 

A wide variety of medications have been found to sometimes be helpful in self-injurious behavior. Those that have been found to sometimes be helpful in self-injurious behavior in the context of a personality disorder, including MAO inhibitors, SSRIs, carbamazepine, lithium, antipsychotics, and benzodiazepines. The choice of medication should be based on the associated features present. Thus, when depressive features are present, try an SSRI when there are symptoms of atypical depression and rejection sensitivity, an MAOI and when psychotic features are present, an antipsychotic. This is an area where there are no clear guidelines for medication use and no guarantee of effectiveness. However, using trial and error, one can often find a drug that has significant benefit. 

The problem faced in designing an antidote to organophosphate poisoning is to find a drug which will displace the organophosphate molecule from serine. This requires hydrolysis of the phosphate-serine bond, but this is a strong bond and not easily broken. Therefore, a stronger nucleophile than water is required. 

Therefore, in 1964, the best hope of achieving an antiulcer agent appeared to be in finding a drug which would block the hormone gastrin. Several research teams were active in this field, but the research team at SK F decided to follow a different tack altogether. 

Clonidine reduces blood pressure by acting on the central nervous system, but it also contracts blood vessels in the peripheral nervous system, and this leads to an increase in blood pressure. The biological activity of a series of related compounds on the central nervous system was found to correlate with the partition coefficient between octanol and water and the biological activity on the peripheral nervous system. The study indicated that there was an optimum value for the partition coefficient, and that central and peripheral nervous system activity could not be separated, suggesting that to find a drug that only acts on the central nervous system it would be necessary to try compounds unrelated to clonidine. Clonidine attaches to the same type of receptor in both the central and peripheral nervous systems — hence the correlation between central and peripheral nervous system biological activity. To attach to the receptor in the central nervous system, however, it has to cross the blood-brain barrier and thus must dissolve in lipids to reach its target. This leads to the correlation of central nervous system activity with lipid solubility. 

Because of the high cost associated with developing a drug, pharmaceutical companies are reluctant to carry out research on drugs for rare diseases. Even if a company were to find a drug, there would be no way to recoup its expenditure, because of the limited demand. In 1983, the... 

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