L-Penicillamine is a medication primarily. It is used for the treatment of Wilson's disease. It is also used for people with kidney stones who have high urine cystine levels, rheumatoid arthritis, copper poisoning, and lead poisoning.
N-Acetyl-DL-penicillamine is a chelating agent.1,2,3It inhibits the binding of methyl mercury to isolated human erythrocytes by 50% and removes 50% of methyl mercury ions from methyl mercury-loaded blood cells when used at a concentration of 1 mM.1,2N-Acetyl-DL-penicillamine (3 mmol kg per day, p.o.) reduces the biological half-life of mercury and decreases liver, kidney, brain, and blood mercury levels, as well as increases urinary excretion of mercury in a concentration-dependent manner, in mice when administered following injection of methyl mercuric chloride. It decreases mercuric chloride-induced mortality in mice when administered orally at a dose of 1.6 mmol kg.3N-Acetyl-DL-penicillamine is also an analog of SNAP that does not generate nitric oxide and has been used as a negative control in experiments using SNAP.4,5