Physical-chemical repurposing of drugs. History of its formation in Russia

Idealization in pharmacology and pharmacy: Symbol of the chemical formula of one molecule of a substance and a real pharmaceutical product

The essence of the two levels of information used in modern pharmacy, pharmacology, and medicine for operations related to theoretical reasoning about medicines and the actual practice of their use for treating specific cases is fundamentally different. In particular, studies have analyzed the essence of theoretical information about medicines and the norms of their use in accordance with medical care standards. Information about medicines and standards of medical care, which dominate textbooks, reference books, encyclopedias, scientific articles , and normative and technical documents, is built on the idealized essence of chemically pure substances and their interaction with an idealized virtual patient. Accordingly, in the fields of pharmacy, pharmacology, and chemistry, physics, and materials science, researchers have traditionally represented chemical elements (and drugs) by certain chemical formulas, names, and symbols for their molecules. Moreover, in pharmacy and pharmacology, the structural formula of one molecule of only one chemical substance belonging to the group of the so-called main active substances most often plays this role. Generally, this chemical symbol of its molecule is identified with the real substance itself. It is assumed that the substance in question is of ideal high quality, is completely free of any impurities, is not combined with other substances, and does not represent a certain pharmaceutical product (it is not a tablet, not a solution, not an ointment, not an aerosol, etc.), and is not manufactured by a certain pharmaceutical company according to a certain recipe. Moreover, modern pharmaceutical products are not separate molecules, not pure chemical reagents, but all sorts of mixtures of different substances of different quality in different ratios. In addition, each pharmaceutical product of each manufacturing plant and each series number has inherent and unique mechanical, physical, chemical, and physicochemical properties and quality indicators. Therefore, the idealized essence of drugs is far from that of real pharmaceutical products. The chemical name and chemical formula are symbols of one molecule of a chemical element, reflecting its idealized chemical essence, but not the essence of a real “tablet”, “ampule”, and/or “tube” with it. In turn, the virtual patient of known sex, average age, average health status, and a body weight of approximately 70 kg implied by the standards of medical care is just an idealized object of interaction with an idealized “medicine”. In this regard, the study of the relationship between the idealized and real drugs and patients is a crucial part of the problem of the relationship between theory and reality in pharmacy, pharmacology, and medicine.

Pyolytics as a product of the physical–chemical repurposing of antiseptics and an alternative to larval therapy for chronic wounds

The traditional treatment of chronic wounds involves daily cleansing of the wound surface from purulent necrotic masses using mechanical and medicinal methods, accompanied by regular replacement of wound dressing. In this case, medicinal wound cleansing lasts 10–15 mins from the time of replacement of the old wound dressing with the new one. According to established practice, medicinal sanitation of infected and purulent wounds during dressing involves irrigation of the wound surface with cleansing solutions, antiseptics, and/or antibiotics. In severe cases, the above therapy is supplemented with live larvae of the necrophage fly, which are injected into purulent necrotic masses and left in them under wound dressing until wounds are completely cleansed from pus. Nevertheless, the generally accepted course of treatment of chronic wounds remains ineffective. The use of pyolytics and their supplementation with wound dressings in the form of warm wet compresses, which create a local greenhouse effect in wounds, was reported to accelerate the healing of chronic wounds. Pyolytics are a group of antiseptics developed in Russia. They are warm alkaline solutions of hydrogen peroxide; when they interact with purulent necrotic masses, these solutions dissolve very quickly and foam them. Because of the interaction with pyolytics, thick purulent masses immediately turn into fluffy oxygenated foam. Pyolytics have been developed because of the physicochemical repurposing of aqueous solutions of sodium hydrogen carbonate and hydrogen peroxide. To accelerate the healing of chronic wounds, a recommendation was to irrigate the surface of chronic wounds with 3% hydrogen peroxide and 2–10% sodium bicarbonate solutions, heated to 37–45°C, which have alkaline activity at pH 8.4–8.5 and are enriched with dissolved carbon dioxide or oxygen (due to excess pressure of 0.2 atm). This study presented the importance of treating chronic wounds using politics and treatment outcomes using pyolytics along with warm moist dressing compresses, demonstrating a wound-healing effect. Consequently, physical and chemical reprofiling of antiseptics may make them effective pyolytics, and the combination of pyolytics with warm wound dressings such as warm moist compresses, which create a local greenhouse effect on wounds, accelerates the healing of chronic wounds.