1. A review of cinnabar (HgS) and/or realgar (As
- Author
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Jie, Liu, Li-Xin, Wei, Qi, Wang, Yuan-Fu, Lu, Feng, Zhang, Jing-Zhen, Shi, Cen, Li, and M George, Cherian
- Subjects
Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ,Mercury Compounds ,Ethnopharmacology ,Animals ,Humans ,Drug Interactions ,Medicine, Traditional ,Sulfides ,Arsenicals - Abstract
Herbo-metallic preparations have a long history in the treatment of diseases, and are still used today for refractory diseases, as adjuncts to standard therapy, or for economic reasons in developing countries.This review uses cinnabar (HgS) and realgar (AsA literature search on cinnabar and realgar from PubMed, Chinese pharmacopeia, Google and other sources was carried out. Traditional medicines containing both cinnabar and realgar (An-Gong-Niu-Huang Wan, Hua-Feng-Dan); mainly cinnabar (Zhu-Sha-An-Shen Wan; Zuotai and Dangzuo), and mainly realgar (Huang-Dai Pian; Liu-Shen Wan; Niu-Huang-Jie-Du) are discussed.Both cinnabar and realgar used in traditional medicines are subjected to special preparation procedures to remove impurities. Metals in these traditional medicines are in the sulfide forms which are different from environmental mercurials (HgClChemical forms of mercury and arsenic are a major determinant of their disposition, efficacy and toxicity, and the use of total Hg and As alone for risk assessment of metals in traditional medicines is insufficient.
- Published
- 2017