Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry Approaches to Passivation and Removal of Aberrant Metal Ions in Disease

A study was conducted to demonstrate medicinal inorganic chemistry approaches to passivation and removal of abberant metal ions in disease. The study addressed the future of the design and utility of metal chelating drugs for disease therapy and focused on the development of therapeutics for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), cancer, and malaria. It was revealed that the most common medicinal application of metal chelators was in the treatment of metal overload conditions. The introduced metal-binding therapeutic needed to participate in a series of ligand exchange reactions to form the new desired complex before achieving metal ion repartitioning or removal.