Besides the remarkable therapeutic success of anticancer drugs such as cisplatin, carboplatin and oxaliplatin, metallodrugs have also shown promising results in the treatment of diseases other than cancer. They have been developed to treat/cure a variety of ailments viz. diabetes, ulcer, rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory and cardiovascular diseases etc. The enzymes in our body and many drugs of organic nature require traces of metal ion for proper functioning. Due to a wide variety of coordination spheres, ligands design, oxidation states and redox potential, coordination and organometallic complexes are supposed to alter the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of the complexes towards biological receptors. Thus, chelation causes drastic change in biological properties of ligands as well as metal moiety. Metal complexes are supposed to exert their effect by inhibition of enzymes, interaction with intracellular biomolecules, enhanced lipophilicity, alteration of cell membrane functions and arrest of cell cycle etc. The review includes the current use and future potential of some metal based drugs used/showed promising results in the treatment of diseases/conditions such as diabetes, ulcer, infection, mania and hypertension etc. which are being developed as therapeutic agents during the recent past.
