Chelation therapies: a chemical and biochemical perspective.

Chelation therapy occupies a central place in modern medicine and pharmacology, because continuous studies with laboratory animals and extensive clinical experience demonstrate that acute or chronic intoxications with a variety of metals can be considerable improved by administration of a suitable chelating agent. In this review the chemical characteristics, properties and uses of the most common chelating agents as well as those of some new and very promising agents of this type, are discussed. In the second part of the review the biological and biochemical impact of these agents, as well as their use for the treatment of some selected diseases and disorders, are also analyzed and discussed in detail.