Inorganic Substances as Drugs and Drug Design Targets

8 INORGANIC SUBSTANCES AS DRUGS AND DRUG DESIGN TARGETS 

Inorganic salts of metals such as gold, lithium, and bismuth have demonstrated utility as therapeutics for a variety of disorders. 

Trivalent antimonials (8.93) and pentavalent antimonials (8.94) are sometimes used as antiparasitic agents against leishmaniasis and schistosomiasis. Although the mechanism 

Bismuth compounds have been used in the treatment of peptic ulcer disease. They function by selective binding to the ulcer, coating it and shielding it from the effects of gastric acid. Bismuth may also have activity against bacteria such as Helicobacter pylori, shown to be a causative factor in peptic ulcer disease of the stomach. Bismuth has been administered as bismuth subsalicylate (8.95) or tripotassium dicitrato bismuthate. 

Lithium salts are used in the treatment of bipolar affective disorder (i.e., manic depression) and occasionally in mania (but its slow onset of action is somewhat of a disadvantage in this case). Its mechanism of action is still open to debate, but lithium has effects on brain monoamines, on neuronal transmembrane sodium flux, and on cellular phosphatidylinositides related to second messenger systems. Lithium is administered in two salt forms, lithium carbonate (8.98) and lithium citrate (8.99). Side effects are common and include diarrhea, kidney failure, and drowsiness with tremor. 

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