Editorial Team
... Read More
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookie Policy.
Written By: Editorial Team | Published : May 21, 2014 11:26 AM IST
Making and improving medical drugs could soon become as easy for chemists as stacking blocks is for a child. Thousands of compounds in a class of molecules called polyenes - many of which have great potential as drugs - can be built simply and economically from a scant one dozen different building blocks, researchers found. Once you have the pieces in a bottle, you can make naturally occurring molecules, or you can change the pieces slightly to make them better, said Martin Burke, a chemistry professor at the University of Illinois in the US.
'Usually, that is such a herculean task that it slows down research. But if that part becomes on-demand, you can make anything you want, and it can powerfully accelerate the drug discovery process,' Burke added. In the same way that plastic building blocks of different sizes and shapes can snap together because they share a simple connector, the chemical building blocks are linked together with one simple reaction. This gives scientists freedom to build molecules that may be difficult or expensive to extract from their natural source or to make in a laboratory. (Read:Now a drug to protect unvaccinated people from measles)
One advantage of the building-block approach is that it allows the researchers to mix and match parts to build many different molecules, and to omit or substitute parts to make a potentially therapeutic substance better for human health. The researchers recently synthesised a derivative of the anti-fungal medication amphotericin. It led to a big breakthrough in understanding how this clinically vital but highly toxic medicine works and the discovery of another derivative that is nontoxic to human cells while still effective at killing fungus, the study maintained. The researchers published their findings in the journal Nature Chemistry. (Read:India pledges new low-cost drugs to developing nations)
What are the side-effects of medicines ?
Every drug or medicinal product is being tested for safety and efficacy before it is approved by the regulatory agencies and is made available in the pharmaceutical market. We all know that all medicines have their own side-effects that are manageable. Everyone needs to be aware of the side-effects of the medicines they are consuming and what to do in case they are affected by them.
A side-effect is an unintentional effect of a drug at a normal dose. A side-effect can be called an adverse event when it includes worsening of the condition, recurrent illness or unwanted drug interactions with other medicines used in the clinical study. Sometimes, the side-effect can even turn into an serious adverse event when the drug elicits an unwanted effect at any given dose. An unwanted effect of the drug is obviously an emergency that needs immediate medical attention. Read more on side effects of drugs
With inputs from IANS
You may also like to read:
For more articles on drugs, visit our drugs section. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all the latest updates! For daily free health tips, sign up for our newsletter. And to join discussions on health topics of your choice, visit our forum.
