Chiral Compounds and Their Pharmacological Effects

Overview

The present contribution to the problems of the stereochemistry of drugs is an attempt at stressingthe importance of a stereochemical view of pharmacology and at informing about the advances of„chiral pharmacology“ within the framework of the contemporary knowledge of selective effects ofdrugs. There are no simple solutions in the „racemates versus enantiomers“ problems and eachsubstance must be considered and tested individually, i.e. on the case–by–case principle. For manyracemates available at present there exist relatively few items of knowledge concerning thepharmacological, toxicological and pharmacokinetic properties of their individual enantiomers, orconcerning the influence of age, health condition, sex and genetic factors on biological availabilityand response of the organism to the drug. Additional testing of the enantiomers of the racematesused in practice can lead to the discovery of new indications of the original drug, improve its clinicaluse and result in increasing its safety and efficacy. If it is so, in this case the „chiral meditations“in pharmacology are double worth the problems they pose.

Key words:
chiral compounds – enantiomers – racemic mixture