Gold Drugs

Department of Chemistry, Utkal University, Vani Vihar, Bhubaneswar-751 004

Rehumatoid arthritis, a progressive disease involving destruction of joint cartilage issue, has been controlled in many cases over the past fifty years by the parenterally administered gold (I) compounds, e.g. gold sodium thiosulphate, Na, AU(S₂O₃)₂ (Sanocrysin); gold disodium thiomalate, Na, Autm (Myocrisin); gold thioglucose, GTG (Solganol) and gold thipolypeptides (Aurodetoxin). An orally administered form of gold, [ (2,3,4,6-tetra-o-acetyl-1-thio-\(\beta\)-D-glucopyranosato-S)(triethylphosphine) gold] (Auramofin) is presently undergoing extensive clinical trial for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Recent advantage in biological, chemical and medical disciplines now provide better understanding of the processes whereby then gold complexes excercise their physiological and pharmacological effects, resulting in exciting new developments in their therapeutic application.