Sulphur compounds used in medicine

Drug Metabol Drug Interact. 1988;6(3-4):183-202. doi: 10.1515/dmdi.1988.6.3-4.183.

Abstract

Native sulphur has had limited success as a medicinal agent. There is, however, hardly a class of drugs which does not contain compounds having sulphur in their structure. Sulphur-containing dyes have given rise to many clinically useful substances, others, such as the -lactam antibiotics, have been developed from naturally occurring molecules and yet others have been designed on the basis of a detailed understanding of physiological mechanisms. Sulphur occurs in drug molecules in all its oxidative states and in all its forms of organic combination. Organo-sulphur compounds, unquestionably form a major therapeutic resource and their potential remains to be further exploited.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Coloring Agents
  • Drug Design
  • Humans
  • Sulfonamides / therapeutic use
  • Sulfur / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Coloring Agents
  • Sulfonamides
  • Sulfur