Prodrug not its intended target. This reduces adverse or unintended effects of a drug, especially important in treatments like chemotherapy, which can have severe unintended and undesirable side effects. Many herbal extracts historically used in medicine contain glycosides (sugar derivatives) of the active agent, which are hydrolyzed in the intestines to release the active and more bioavailable aglycone. For example, salicin is a β-D-glucopyranoside that is cleaved by esterases to release salicylic acid. Aspirin, acetylsalicylic acid, first made by Felix Hoffmann at Bayer in 1897, is a synthetic prodrug of salicylic acid. However, in other cases, such as codeine and morphine,
The Indian in the Cupboard the plastic figurine in the cupboard and locks it with the key, only to discover the following morning that the figurine has come to life as a three-inch tall Iroquois man. After a bewildering first encounter, Omri hastily locks the man back into the cupboard to prevent his discovery while Omri is away at school, only to be crestfallen when he returns home to find the man returned to lifeless plastic. Curious, Omri relocks the figurine in the cupboard and it comes to life once more. Though the tiny man, whose name is Little Bear (Little Bull in some editions),