Difference Between Cisplatin and Transplatin

The key difference between cisplatin and transplatin is that cisplatin produces much more DNA abduct than transplatin.

Cisplatin and transplatin are structural isomers of each other. Cisplatin is the cis isomer of Dichlorodiammineplatinum(II) while transplatin is the trans isomer of the same compound. Here, the cis isomer has medicinal importance, but transplatin is not that much used.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Cisplatin 
3. What is Transplatin 
4. Side by Side Comparison – Cisplatin vs Transplatin in Tabular Form
5. Summary

What is Cisplatin?

Cisplatin is the cis isomer of Dichlorodiammineplatinum(II). It is a type of chemotherapy medication we can use to treat cancers. Some cancer types we can treat with this medication include testicular cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, brain tumor, etc. The trade name of this compound is Platinol. The route of administration for this medication is intravenous administration as short term infusion in normal saline for the treatment of solid malignancies.

However, there are a number of side effects patients face when using this medication. Some examples are as follows;

  1. Nephrotoxicity – kidney damage is a major concern regarding the use of cisplatin. When the patient’s kidney function is impaired, the dose should be reduced. However, adequate hydration can prevent this condition to some extent.
  2. Neurotoxicity – nerve damage is another important concern regarding cisplatin. The common disorders regarding nerve function include visual perception and hearing disorder. These two conditions can occur soon after the treatment starts
  3. Nausea and vomiting
  4. Ototoxicity – loss of hearing is another very important side effect of cisplatin treatment. Most importantly, there is no effective side treatment to prevent this condition.
  5. Electrolyte disturbances – cisplatin can cause hypomagnesaemia, hypokalaemia, and hypocalcemia.

Usually, cisplatin works by interfering with DNA replication, which theoretically means that this medicine can be carcinogenic. After the administration of the drug, one chlorine ion in the drug is slowly replaced by a water molecule, and it causes aquation. This dissociation of chloride is favorable because the intercellular chloride ion concentration is typically only 2-3%. After that, this water molecule in the drug can undergo displacing by the nitrogenous bases of DNA, preferably guanine. Therefore, cisplatin crosslinks with DNA in several ways.

What is Transplatin?

Transplatin is the trans isomer of Dichlorodiammineplatinum(II). The chemical formula of the compound is trans-PtCl2(NH3)2. It exists as a yellow solid with very low water solubility. However, the solubility of the compound in DMF solvent is very high.

The drug can be produced by treating [Pt(NH3)4]Cl2 with hydrochloric acid. Many of the reactions of this drug show a trans effect. The compound slowly undergoes hydrolysis in an aqueous solution, giving a mixture of an aqua complex and some other trans compounds. Moreover, the oxidation addition of transplatin gives trans-PtCl4(NH3)2. Compared to the cis isomer, this drug has no important medicinal effect.

What is the Difference Between Cisplatin and Transplatin?

Cisplatin and transplatin are structural isomers of each other. The key difference between cisplatin and transplatin is that cisplatin produces much more DNA abduct than transplatin. When compared to each other, cisplatin is very useful in medicine as an anticancer drug, but transplatin has no important medicinal effect. Moreover, cisplatin is not water-soluble while transplatin is water-soluble to a considerable extent. When dissolved in water, transplatin undergoes hydrolysis.

Below infographic summarizes the difference between cisplatin and transplatin.

Summary – Cisplatin vs Transplatin

Cisplatin and transplatin are structural isomers of each other. The key difference between cisplatin and transplatin is that cisplatin produces much more DNA abduct than transplatin. Cisplatin is important as an anticancer drug, while transplatin has no important medicinal effect.

Related Posts