[A glimpse into a new discipline: medicinal inorganic chemistry]

Authors discuss some aspects of the medicinal application of metal complexes. They deal with anti-effective agents, bismuth anticulcer and gold antiarthritic drugs, and with agents that influence the NO balance in the cardiovascular system. Further, they concern with insulin mimetic vanadium compounds, metal complexes of superoxide dismutase activity, photodynamic therapy, and the treatment of copper deficiency.