Folic Acid is a B complex vitamin containing a pteridine moiety linked by a methylene bridge to para-aminobenzoic acid, which is joined by a peptide linkage to glutamic acid. Conjugates of Folic Acid are present in a wide variety of foods, particularly liver, kidneys, yeast and leafy green vegetables. Commercially available Folic Acid is prepared synthetically. Folic Acid occurs as a yellow or yellowish-orange crystalline powder and is very slightly soluble in water and insoluble in alcohol. Aqueous solutions of Folic Acid are heat sensitive and rapidly decompose in the presence of light and/or riboflavin; solutions should be stored in a cool place protected from light. Folic Acid is effective in the treatment of megaloblastic anemias due to a deficiency of Folic Acid (as may be seen in tropical or nontropical sprue) and in anemia of nutritional origin, pregnancy, infancy, or childhood. Folic Acid is relatively nontoxic in man. Rare instances of allergic responses to Folic Acid preparations have been reported and have included erythema, skin rash, itching, general malaise, and respiratory difficulty due to bronchospasm. Endocyte is developing an intravenous (IV) formulation of folic acid, called Neocepri®, which is intended for the diagnosis of positive folate receptor-positive status in patients with ovarian cancer when administered prior to the radioactive medicine, technetium Tc99m Etarfolatide. The benefits of Neocepri® are its ability to reduce the background activity observed on single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) imaging in most normal, nontarget tissues (e.g. intestines, liver, kidney, spleen), thereby improving the image quality of the scans. The product had been granted orphan drug designation in the EU. Endocyte had filed a conditional marketing authorization application (CMA) with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for Neocepri®.

Dimercaprol (2, 3-dimercapto-1-propanol) or British anti-Lewisite (BAL), is a colorless or almost colorless liquid chelating agent having a disagreeable, mercaptan-like odor. Dimercaprol was developed at Oxford University during World War II as a means of treating and reversing poisoning from Lewisite, an arsenical gas used in chemical warfare (and thus initially called British anti-Lewisite [BAL]). The sulfhydryl groups of dimercaprol form complexes with certain heavy metals thus preventing or reversing the metallic binding of sulfhydryl-containing enzymes. Parenterally administered dimercaprol is used to treat arsenic, gold, copper and mercury poisoning. It is indicated in acute lead poisoning when used concomitantly with edetate clcium disodium. Dimercaprol is occasionally used in the initial treatment of severe, symptomatic Wilson disease, but generally for a short time only.

Penicillin G, also known as benzylpenicillin, is a penicillin derivative commonly used in the form of its sodium or potassium salts in the treatment of a variety of infections. It is effective against most gram-positive bacteria and against gram-negative cocci. It is administered intravenously or intramuscularly due to poor oral absorption. Penicillin G may also be used in some cases as prophylaxis against susceptible organisms. Microbiology Penicillin G is bactericidal against penicillin-susceptible microorganisms during the stage of active multiplication. It acts by inhibiting biosynthesis of cell-wall mucopeptide. It is not active against the penicillinase-producing bacteria, which include many strains of staphylococci. Penicillin G is highly active in vitro against staphylococci (except penicillinase-producing strains), streptococci (groups A, B, C, G, H, L and M), pneumococci and Neisseria meningitidis. Other organisms susceptible in vitro to penicillin G are Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Bacillus anthracis, clostridia, Actinomyces species, Spirillum minus, Streptobacillus monillformis, Listeria monocytogenes, and leptospira; Treponema pallidum is extremely susceptible. Adverse effects can include hypersensitivity reactions including urticaria, fever, joint pains, rashes, angioedema, anaphylaxis, serum sickness-like reaction.

Ethinyl estradiol is a synthetic derivative of the natural estrogen estradiol. It is one of two estrogens currently used in oral contraceptive pills. The other, mestranol, is converted to ethinyl estradiol before it is biologically active. Ethinyl estradiol and norethindrone are used together as an oral contraceptive agent. Estrogens diffuse into their target cells and interact with a protein receptor. Target cells include the female reproductive tract, the mammary gland, the hypothalamus, and the pituitary. Estrogens increase the hepatic synthesis of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), thyroid-binding globulin (TBG), and other serum proteins and suppress follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) from the anterior pituitary. This cascade is initiated by initially binding to the estrogen receptors. The combination of an estrogen with a progestin suppresses the hypothalamic-pituitary system, decreasing the secretion of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH). Used for treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms associated with the menopause, female hypogonadism, prostatic carcinoma-palliative therapy of advanced disease, breast cancer, as an oral contraceptive, and as emergency contraceptive.

Benzhydrocodone is a prodrug of hydrocodone. Benzhydrocodone is formed by covalently bonding hydrocodone to benzoic acid. Benzhydrocodone itself is not pharmacologically active, but must be metabolized to hydrocodone by enzymes in the intestinal tract to optimally deliver its pharmacologic effects. Hydrocodone is a full agonist of the opioid receptors with a higher affinity for the mu-opioid receptor. Upon binding, hydrocodone produces an analgesic effect with no ceiling. APADAZ a combination of benzhydrocodone and acetaminophen is FDA approved and indicated for the short-term (no more than 14 days) management of acute pain severe enough to require an opioid analgesic and for which alternative treatments are inadequate. APADAZ, even when taken as recommended, can result in addiction, abuse, and misuse, which can lead to overdose and death.

Pethidine, also known as meperidine and Demerol, a narcotic analgesic that can be used for the relief of most types of moderate to severe pain, including postoperative pain and the pain of labor. Meperidine is an opioid agonist with multiple actions qualitatively similar to those of morphine. Most common adverse reactions were lightheadedness, dizziness, sedation, nausea, vomiting, and sweating. Pethidine has serious interactions that can be dangerous with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (e.g., furazolidone, isocarboxazid, moclobemide, phenelzine, procarbazine, selegiline, tranylcypromine). Pethidine can interact with muscle relaxants, some antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and ethanol.

Cyanocobalamin (commonly known as Vitamin B12) is the most chemically complex of all the vitamins. Cyanocobalamin's structure is based on a corrin ring, which, although similar to the porphyrin ring found in heme, chlorophyll, and cytochrome, has two of the pyrrole rings directly bonded. The central metal ion is Co (cobalt). Cyanocobalamin is naturally found in foods including meat (especially liver and shellfish), eggs, and milk products.Vitamin B12 is essential to growth, cell reproduction, hematopoiesis, and nucleoprotein and myelin synthesis. Cells characterized by rapid division (e.g., epithelial cells, bone marrow, myeloid cells) appear to have the greatest requirement for vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 can be converted to coenzyme B12 in tissues, and as such is essential for conversion of methylmalonate to succinate and synthesis of methionine from homocysteine, a reaction which also requires folate. In the absence of coenzyme B12, tetrahydrofolate cannot be regenerated from its inactive storage form, 5- methyltetrahydrofolate, and a functional folate deficiency occurs. Vitamin B12 also may be involved in maintaining sulfhydryl (SH) groups in the reduced form required by many SH-activated enzyme systems. Through these reactions, vitamin B12 is associated with fat and carbohydrate metabolism and protein synthesis. Vitamin B12 deficiency results in megaloblastic anemia, GI lesions, and neurologic damage that begins with an inability to produce myelin and is followed by gradual degeneration of the axon and nerve head. Cyanocobalamin is the most stable and widely used form of vitamin B12, and has hematopoietic activity apparently identical to that of the antianemia factor in purified liver extract. Parenteral (intramuscular) administration of vitamin B12 completely reverses the megaloblastic anemia and GI symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency.

Ergoalcifediol (Vitamin D2) is a fat soluble steroid hormone precursor of vitamin D. The principal biologic function of vitamin D is the maintenance of normal levels of serum calcium and phosphorus in the bloodstream by enhancing the efficacy of the small intestine to absorb these minerals from the diet. Cholecalciferol is synthesized within our bodies naturally, but if UV exposure is inadequate or the metabolism of cholecalciferol is abnormal, then an exogenous source is required. Vitamin D2 is converted to 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25OHD) in the liver, and then to the active form, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), in the kidney. Once transformed, it binds to the vitamin D receptor, which leads to a variety of regulatory roles. Vitamin D plays an important role in maintaining calcium balance and in the regulation of parathyroid hormone (PTH). It promotes renal reabsorption of calcium, increases intestinal absorption of calcium and phosphorus, and increases calcium and phosphorus mobilization from bone to plasma. Very few foods naturally contain vitamin D. Sources that contain the vitamin include fatty fish, the liver and fat of aquatic mammals (e.g., seals, polar bears), and eggs from chickens fed vitamin D-fortified feed. As such, many countries have instituted policies to fortify certain foods with vitamin D to compensate for the potentially low exposures of skin to sunlight. Vitamin D deficiency results in inadequate mineralization of bone or compensatory skeletal demineralization and causes decreased ionized calcium concentrations in blood and a resultant increase in the production and secretion of PTH. Increase in PTH stimulates the mobilization of skeletal calcium, inhibits renal excretion of calcium, and stimulates renal excretion of phosphorus. This results in normal fasting serum calcium concentrations and low or near-normal serum phosphorus. The enhanced mobilization of skeletal calcium induced by this secondary hyperparathyroidism leads porotic bone. Ergoalcifediol is used for use in the management of hypocalcemia and its clinical manifestations in patients with hypoparathyroidism, as well as for the treatment of familial hypophosphatemia (vitamin D resistant rickets). This drug has also been used in the treatment of nutritional rickets or osteomalacia, vitamin D dependent rickets, rickets or osteomalacia secondary to long-term high dose anticonvulsant therapy, early renal osteodystrophy, osteoporosis (in conjunction with calcium), and hypophosphatemia associated with Fanconi syndrome (with treatment of acidosis). Ergocalciferol is manufactured and marketed under various names, including Deltalin (Eli Lilly and Company), Drisdol (Sanofi-Synthelabo) and Calcidol (Patrin Pharma).

Sulfacetamide is a synthetic sulfonamide antibiotic, which exerts its effect through inhibition of bacterial dihydrofolate synthetase, an enzyme responsible for the conversion of p-aminobenzoic acid into folic acid in bacterias. The topical formulation of the drug is prescribed for the treatment of acne vulgaris and the ophtalmic formulation is used in patients with eye infections.

Phenytoin is an anti-epileptic drug. Phenytoin has been used with much clinical success against all types of epileptiform seizures, except petit mal epilepsy. Phenytoin is a available for oral administration (tablets, capsules, suspension). CEREBYX® (fosphenytoin sodium injection) is a prodrug intended for parenteral administration; its active metabolite is phenytoin. CEREBYX should be used only when oral phenytoin administration is not possible. Although several potential targets for phenytoin action have been identified within the CNS (Na-K-ATPase, the GABAA receptor complex, ionotropic glutamate receptors, calcium channels and sigma binding sites) to date, though, the best evidence hinges on the inhibition of voltage-sensitive Na channels in the plasma membrane of neurons undergoing seizure activity.