Thalidomide

Thalidomide is a sedative and immunomodulatory drug whose enantiomers interconvert in the body. Its use during pregnancy caused severe birth defects and reshaped drug-safety regulation.

Enantiomer: One of two stereoisomers that are mirror images and cannot be superimposed. Thalidomide’s two mirror-image forms interconvert in physiological conditions.
Chemie Grünenthal: A German pharmaceutical company that developed and marketed thalidomide. The company introduced thalidomide as a sedative in West Germany in 1957.
Thalidomide embryopathy: A pattern of congenital abnormalities caused by fetal exposure to thalidomide during early pregnancy. It names the characteristic developmental injuries associated with the drug.
Multiple myeloma: A cancer of plasma cells, a type of antibody-producing white blood cell. Thalidomide and related drugs are used in treatment regimens for this cancer.
Thalidomide teratogenic mechanism: The biological processes through which thalidomide disrupts embryonic development. Cereblon binding explains important effects, but the full pattern of fetal injury remains under study.
Racemization: The conversion of an optically active compound into a mixture of its enantiomers. It prevents separating thalidomide’s enantiomers as stable, distinct treatments in the body.
West Germany: The state established in 1949 in the western occupation zones of postwar Germany. Thalidomide first entered the market there under the name Contergan.
Phocomelia: A congenital condition in which hands or feet are attached close to the trunk because long bones are absent or shortened. Phocomelia became the most recognizable limb defect linked to thalidomide exposure.
Erythema nodosum leprosum: An inflammatory complication of leprosy marked by painful skin nodules and systemic symptoms. Thalidomide can treat this condition under strict pregnancy-prevention controls.
Angiogenesis: The formation of new blood vessels from existing vessels. Disrupted blood-vessel development is one proposed contributor to thalidomide-related limb defects.

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