Indometacin (INN and BAN) or indomethacin (AAN, USAN, and former BAN) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) commonly used as a prescription medication to reduce fever, pain, stiffness, and swelling from inflammation. Indomethacin has analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic properties. The mechanism of action of Indometacin, like that of other NSAIDs, is not completely understood but involves inhibition of cyclooxygenase (COX-1 and COX-2). Indomethacin is a potent inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis in vitro. Indomethacin concentrations reached during therapy have produced in vivo effects. Prostaglandins sensitize afferent nerves and potentiate the action of bradykinin in inducing pain in animal models. Prostaglandins are mediators of inflammation. Because indomethacin is an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthesis, its mode of action may be due to a decrease of prostaglandins in peripheral tissues. Indometacin is indicated for: Moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis including acute flares of chronic disease, Moderate to severe ankylosing spondylitis, Moderate to severe osteoarthritis, Acute painful shoulder (bursitis and/or tendinitis), Acute gouty arthritis. In general, adverse effects seen with indomethacin are similar to all other NSAIDs. For instance, indometacin inhibits both cyclooxygenase-1 and cyclooxygenase-2, it inhibits the production of prostaglandins in the stomach and intestines, which maintain the mucous lining of the gastrointestinal tract. Indometacin, therefore, like other non-selective COX inhibitors can cause peptic ulcers. These ulcers can result in serious bleeding and/or perforation requiring hospitalization of the patient. To reduce the possibility of peptic ulcers, indomethacin should be prescribed at the lowest dosage needed to achieve a therapeutic effect, usually between 50–200 mg/day. It should always be taken with food. Nearly all patients benefit from an ulcer protective drug (e.g. highly dosed antacids, ranitidine 150 mg at bedtime, or omeprazole 20 mg at bedtime). Other common gastrointestinal complaints, including dyspepsia, heartburn and mild diarrhea are less serious and rarely require discontinuation of indomethacin.

Nafcillin is a beta-lactam antibiotic of penicillin class. As a beta-lactamase-resistant penicillin, it is used to treat infections caused by Gram-positive bacteria, in particular, species of staphylococci that are resistant to other penicillins.

Nortriptyline is a second-generation tricyclic antidepressant (TCA) marketed as the hydrochloride salt under the trade names Sensoval, Aventyl, Pamelor, Norpress, Allegron, Noritren and Nortrilen. Nortriptyline is used in the treatment of depression and childhood nocturnal enuresis. Its off-label uses include treatment of postherpetic neuralgia, angioedema and smoking Cessation, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in some neurological disorders. It is believed that nortriptyline either inhibits the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin at the neuronal membrane or acts at beta-adrenergic receptors. Nortriptyline is US FDA-approved for the treatment of major depression. In the United Kingdom, it may also be used for treating nocturnal enuresis, with courses of treatment lasting no more than three months. The most common side effects include dry mouth, sedation, constipation, and increased appetite, mild blurred vision, tinnitus, occasionally hypomania or mania. An occasional side effect is a rapid or irregular heartbeat. Alcohol may exacerbate some of its side effects. However, fewer and milder side effects occur with nortriptyline than tertiary tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine and amitriptyline. For this reason, nortriptyline is preferred to other tricyclic antidepressants, particularly with older adults, which also improves compliance.

Dactinomycin (actinomycin D) was isolated from Streptomyces by Selman Waksman in 1940s. The antibiotic shows anti-cancer activity; it was approved by FDA for the treatment of different cancer conditions among which are Ewing's sarcoma, Wilm's tumor, gestational trophoblastic disease, etc. Dactinomycin exerts its action by binding to DNA (preferably to GC motif) and thus inhibiting transcription.

6-Aminocaproic acid (epsilon-aminocaproic acid, marketed as Amicar) is an ant fibrinolytic agent that acts by inhibiting plasminogen activators, which have fibrinolytic properties. It is useful in enhancing hemostasis when fibrinolysis contributes to bleeding. In life threatening situations, transfusion of appropriate blood products and other emergency measures may be required. Fibrinolytic bleeding may frequently be associated with surgical complications following heart surgery (with or without cardiac bypass procedures) and portacaval shunt; hematological disorders such as a megakaryocytic thrombocytopenia (accompanying aplastic anemia); hepatic cirrhosis; and neoplastic disease such as carcinoma of the prostate, lung, stomach, and cervix. Aminocaproic acid binds reversibly to the kringle domain of plasminogen and blocks the binding of plasminogen to fibrin and its activation to plasmin. With NO activation of plasmin, there is a reduction in fibrinolysis. The drug should NOT be administered without a definite diagnosis and/or laboratory finding indicative of hyperfibrinolysis (hyperplasminemia). Inhibition of fibrinolysis by aminocaproic acid may theoretically result in clotting or thrombosis. However, there is no definite evidence that administration of aminocaproic acid has been responsible for the few reported cases of intravascular clotting which followed this treatment. Rather, it appears that such intravascular clotting was most likely due to the patient's preexisting clinical condition, e.g., the presence of DIC. It has been postulated that extravascular clots formed in vivo may not undergo spontaneous lysis as do normal clots. Reports have appeared in the literature of an increased incidence of certain neurological deficits such as hydrocephalus, cerebral ischemia, or cerebral vasospasm associated with the use of ant fibrinolytic agents in the treatment of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). All of these events have also been described as part of the natural course of SAH, or as a consequence of diagnostic procedures such as angiography. Drug relatedness remains unclear. Aminocaproic acid may change the conformation of apoliprotein, changing its binding properties and potentially preventing the formation of lipoprotein.

Triamterene, a relatively weak, potassium-sparing diuretic and antihypertensive, is used in the management of hypokalemia. Triamterene inhibits the epithelial sodium channels on principal cells in the late distal convoluted tubule and collecting tubule, which are responsible for 1-2% of total sodium reabsorption. As sodium reabsorption is inhibited, this increases the osmolarity in the nephron lumen and decreases the osmolarity of the interstitium. Since sodium concentration is the main driving force for water reabsorption, triamterene can achieve a modest amount of diuresis by decreasing the osmotic gradient necessary for water reabsorption from lumen to interstitium. Triamterene also has a potassium-sparing effect. Normally, the process of potassium excretion is driven by the electrochemical gradient produced by sodium reabsorption. As sodium is reabsorbed, it leaves a negative potential in the lumen, while producing a positive potential in the principal cell. This potential promotes potassium excretion through apical potassium channels. By inhibiting sodium reabsorption, triamterene also inhibits potassium excretion.Triamterene is used for the treatment of edema associated with congestive heart failure, cirrhosis of the liver, and the nephrotic syndrome; also in steroid-induced edema, idiopathic edema, and edema due to secondary hyperaldosteronism. Triamterene is maeketed under the trade name Dyrenium.

The selenite anion is a selenium oxoanion with the chemical formula SeO2−3. A selenite (Se) is a compound that contains this ion. Sodium selenite is an inorganic form of the trace element selenium with potential antineoplastic activity. It was documented that Se deficiency observed in some countries and/or geographic regions (e.g. Keshan region in China), is associated with an increased morbidity and mortality of neoplastic diseases. To correct this problem a number of organic and inorganic selenium compounds were developed and tested. However, it is now firmly established that only an inorganic sodium selenite with four-valent Se, and not that with six-valent (selenate) cation shows anticancer activity. Selenite can undergo redox reaction, for example with protein's sulfhydryl groups expressed on the surface of tumor cells. In this way selenite prevents non-enzymatic formation of parafibrin that coats tumors cells and hence presents them as 'self' to the innate cellular immune system. Consequently, macrophages of the lymphatic system do not recognize neoplastic cells as 'foreign' bodies and spare them from the immune destruction. Sodium selenite also showed promise as a cost-effective, nontoxic anti-inflammatory agent. Treatment with sodium selenite lowers reactive oxygen species (ROS) production, causes a spontaneous reduction in lymphedema volume, increases the efficacy of physical therapy for lymphedema, and reduces the incidence of erysipelas infections in patients with chronic lymphedema. Limited evidence has been presented though that intakes of selenium greater than the amount needed to allow full expression of selenoproteins may have chemopreventive effects against cancer. Controlled intervention studies are needed to fully evaluate selenium as a cancer chemopreventive agent. The US Food and Drug Administration approved a selenium supplement to animal diets; the most common form is sodium selenite for pet foods.

Melphalan, also known as L-phenylalanine mustard, phenylalanine mustard, L-PAM, or L-sarcolysin, is a phenylalanine derivative of nitrogen mustard. Melphalan is a bifunctional alkylating agent which produces a number of DNA adducts with the DNA interstrand crosslink (ICL) considered to be the critical cytotoxic lesion. Melphalan is used to treat different cancers including myeloma, melanoma and ovarian cancer.

Valproic acid (VPA; valproate; di-n-propylacetic acid, DPA; 2-propylpentanoic acid, or 2-propylvaleric acid) was first synthesized in 1882, by Burton. FDA approved valproic acid for the treatment of manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder, for the monotherapy and adjunctive therapy of complex partial seizures and simple and complex absence seizures and adjunctive therapy in patients with multiple seizure types that include absence seizures and for the prophylaxis of migraine headaches. The mechanisms of VPA which seem to be of clinical importance in the treatment of epilepsy include increased gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic activity, reduction in excitatory neurotransmission, and modification of monoamines. Recently, it was discovered that the VPA is a class I selective histone deacetylase inhibitor. This activity can be distinguished from its therapeutically exploited antiepileptic activity.

Acetylcysteine (also known as N-acetylcysteine or N-acetyl-L-cysteine or NAC) is primarily used as a mucolytic agent and in the management of acetaminophen poisoning. Acetylcysteine likely protects the liver by maintaining or restoring the glutathione levels, or by acting as an alternate substrate for conjugation with, and thus detoxification of, the reactive metabolite. Nacystelyn (NAL), a recently-developed lysine salt of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is known to have excellent mucolytic capabilities and is used to treat cystic fibrosis (CF) lung disease. NAC as a precursor to the antioxidant glutathione modulates glutamatergic, neurotrophic, and inflammatory pathways. The potential applications of NAC to facilitate recovery after traumatic brain injury, cerebral ischemia, and in treatment of cerebrovascular vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage. Acetylcysteine serves as a prodrug to L-cysteine, which is a precursor to the biologic antioxidant, glutathione, and hence administration of acetylcysteine replenishes glutathione stores. L-cysteine also serves as a precursor to cystine, which in turn serves as a substrate for the cystine-glutamate antiporter on astrocytes hence increasing glutamate release into the extracellular space. Acetylcysteine also possesses some anti-inflammatory effects possibly via inhibiting NF-κB through redox activation of the nuclear factor kappa kinases thereby modulating cytokine synthesis. NAC is associated with reduced levels of inflammatory cytokines and acts as a substrate for glutathione synthesis. These actions are believed to converge upon mechanisms promoting cell survival and growth factor synthesis, leading to increased neurite sprouting.