Medicinal Chemistry

Fully updated and rewritten by a basic scientist who is also a practising physician the third edition of this popular textbook remains comprehensive authoritative and readable. Taking a receptor-based target-centered approach it presents the concepts central to the study of drug action in a logical mechanistic way grounded on molecular and biochemical principles. Students of pharmacy chemistry and pharmacology as well as researchers interested in a better understanding of drug design will find this book an invaluable resource. Starting with an overview of basic principles Medicinal Chemistry examines the properties of drug molecules the characteristics of drug receptors and the nature of drug-receptor interactions. Then it systematically examines the various families of receptors involved in human disease and drug design. The first three classes of receptors are related to endogenous molecules: neurotransmitters hormones and immunomodulators. Next receptors associated with cellular organelles (mitochondria cell nucleus) endogenous macromolecules (membrane proteins cytoplasmic enzymes) and exogenous pathogens (viruses bacteria) are exained. Through this evaluation of receptors all the main types of human disease and all major categories of drugs are considered. There have been many changes in the third edition including a new chapter on the immune system. Because of their increasingly prominent role in drug discovery molecular modeling techniques high throughput screening neurpharmacology and genetics/genomics are given much more attention. The chapter on hormonal therapies has been thoroughly updated and re-organized. Emerging enzyme targets in drug design (e.g. kinases caspases) are discussed and recent information on voltage-gated and ligand-gated ion channels has been incorporated. The sections on antihypertensive antiviral antibacterial anti-inflammatory antiarrhythmic and anticancer drugs as well as treatments for hyperlipidemia and peptic ulcer have been substantially expanded. One new feature will enhance the book''s appeal to all readers: clinical-molecular interface sections that facilitate understanding of the treatment of human disease at a molecular level.