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Category: Drugs
Posted on: January 11, 2007 9:00 PM, by Molecule of the Day
Despite the name, penicillamine isn't an antibiotic; it's actually a metabolite of penicillin-class drugs. It is given as the pure chemical too.
It is an immunosuppressant, among other things. My favorite medical use of it is its role in chelating copper as a treatment for Wilson's disease, a rare disease caused by an inborn error in metabolism that causes copper to accumulate. Remove the copper, you treat the disease.
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Comments
why don't you do a little special on butyric acid... with cancer and such
Posted by: none | January 12, 2007 4:12 PM
Good job, House.
Posted by: Jeremiah | January 23, 2007 9:53 AM