Table 1.

Summary of medicinal thiols and their current and potential uses.

Common Name	Structure	Primary Use	Primary Mechanism	Other Uses Covered in this Review
N-Acetyl-L-cysteine		APAP overdose [16, 18, 21, 23, 25, 29, 32, 34, 36, 38–42, 45–51, 53]	Acts as GSH prodrug by supplying cysteine	Lead toxicity [82, 85–86] Radioprotection [129, 146–147] Psychiatric/Neurologic Disorders [170, 171]
Amifostine, WR-2721		Radioprotection [113, 119, 121–134]	Scavenges free radicals formed during RT	-
Captopril		Hypertension [163, 165–166]	Blocks activation of angiotensin, a vasoconstrictor	Lead toxicity [89] Radioprotection [136–139] Metallo-β-lactamase inhibition [167–169] Alzheimer’s/dementia [173, 174]
Dimercaprol, BAL in oil		Heavy metal toxicity As, Au, Hg, and Pb [71–72, 94–96]	Chelates heavy metals, facilitating their removal	-
2,3-meso- Dimercaptosuccinic acid		Lead poisoning [71–72, 74, 76–81]	Chelates Pb to form soluble, excretable complexes	-
N-(2-Mercaptopropionyl)-glycine, Tiopronin, Thiola		Cystinuria [157–158]	Forms soluble cysteine-tiopronin disulfides with excess cysteine in urine	Metallo-β-lactamase inhibition [167] Copper chelation [159]
D-Penicillamine		Wilson’s disease [97, 99, 101–102, 104, 106, 108, 110]	Chelates Cu to form soluble, excretable complexes	Rheumatoid arthritis [151–155] Chemotherapy adjuvant [98]