[Inhibitors of enzymes with potential medical applications]

From the earliest times, medicine has focused on finding the most suitable and effective treatment for every patient. At present, a dynamic development of diagnostic methods and techniques for designing new drugs allows to create therapies for many diseases at the molecular level. Among the many drugs appearing on the medical market every year, special attention should be paid to those whose action is based on the inhibition of proteolytic enzyme activity. Protease inhibitors are a diverse group of biologically active molecules for which antiviral, antimicrobial, antifungal, antiparasitic or anticancer effects have been documented. Successes in the treatment of HIV infection, hepatitis C and influenza diseases certainly encourage researchers to look for new inhibitors that could be used in new therapies. This paper provides an overview of selected information on enzyme inhibitors, especially protease inhibitors, which are already registered medicines and substances that are promising candidates for medical use.