The mass of the atoms forming a chemical bond affects the bond’s strength. When two different isotopes of the same element exist, the heavier ones form stronger bonds. Stronger bonds make bond cleavage reactions run more slowly, leading to the kinetic isotope effect, a well-studied concept in physical chemistry. To illustrate this with an example from soccer, if one of the two identical soccer balls is filled up with air and another one with water, they will look identical on the ground, but a stronger kick would be required to send the water-filled ball the same distance as the air-filled one. Of the two stable isotopes of hydrogen (H), Deuterium (H) is twice as heavy as protium (H), thus giving the largest kinetic isotope effect of all stable (non-radioactive) atoms.
The kinetic isotope effect is sometimes applied in another context in drug development, modulating drug properties in a favorable/patient-friendly way (deuterated drugs). Small molecules used as drugs are recognized as “foreign” to the body, and an organism’s defense systems often mount a response. Typically, drug metabolism alters the drug molecule through oxidation into derivatives that are easier to excrete, reducing the drug’s half-life. This can be slowed down by deuteration, hence improving pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.