Medicinal Uses of Gold

In the late 1890s, Koch discovered that gold cyanide was effective against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, more commonly known as TB. Although gold was used to treat pulmonary tuberculosis, it was not a very effective therapy and was discontinued. Years after the discovery that gold exhibited 

---

Gold has been used in medicine for many centuries, and since the 1920s several injectable gold compounds have been widely used for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis. Recent reviews of the medicinal uses of gold compounds have been published (412-414). 

The modern medicinal use of gold, termed chrysotherapy, is covered in Chapter 10 of this book. However, while these applications mainly deal with the use of gold compounds, there are a number of uses of the metal itself in bulk form that merit mentioning. These applications relate to the excellent biocompatibility of the metal in the human body. 

The earliest use of gold complexes in medicine primarily involved gold thiolates, which being yellow or even gold-colored in solution, led to their designation as chrysotherapy (chrysos is Greek for gold). 

Figure 1 (a) The 200 Deutschmark note commemorating Paul Ehrlichmann s contributions to biomedical science included the structure of (PhAs)6, which he developed as a medicinal agent, (b) Letterhead for the Keeley Institute in Lancaster, WI, highlighting the use of gold preparations to treat opium addiction, drunkenness, and neurasthemia in the 1890s... 

Plate 6 Sensitivity to metallic gold or its alloys seen as a Riasiform eruption. Such gold rashes are often seen in patients sufferingfrom rheumatoid diseases whereby levels of essential metals such as copper and zinc are also disturbed. Similarly, the use of gold compounds in the treatment of arthritis can produce such skin problems. Reproduced by permission from C.D. Forbes and W.F. Jackson, A Colour Atlas of Clinical Medicine , Wolfe, 1993... 

The volume contains 16 chapters dealing with calculations on organogold compounds, physical and spectroscopic properties (NMR, ESR, PES, Mossbauer spectra), thermochemical and analytical properties, the synthesis and uses of the title compounds and their reactions such as rearrangements, pyrolysis and photochemical reactions. The medicinal use of organogold compounds and the increased use of gold-thiol monolayers are also summarized. 

As early as 2500 BC the Chinese employed gold for biological benefit (7 ). Ancient Arabic physicians also record its benefit. Gold was revered in medieval medicine and held an honored place in pharmacopoeias of those days. Pliney describes manifold efficacious uses of gold in wounded persons, to ward off sorcerous curses in ashen form... 

The most common use for privately owned gold is jewelry and personal ornaments. Coinage and bullion ranks second, especially gold coins, minted by many nations, which are attractive to small investors. Secondary -and increasing - uses of gold include the s-ciplines of electronics, dentistry, physiology, immunology, electron microscopy, and human medicine. 

The desire to understand the ability of the human body and its components to tolerate exposure to synthetic materials can be first dated to 1588, when the use of gold to repair a cleft palate was recorded (/). Every advance in the fields of both medicine and material science has expanded the possible uses of synthetic materials in medical applications. Table 1 provides a list of some common medical applications of synthetic materials the ideal material choice for each particular application depends on the biocompatibility and mechanical property requirements in each case (2). 

Shaw, C. Gold Complexes with Anti-arthritic, Anti-tumour and Anti-HIV Activity In Uses of Inorganic Chemistry in Medicine, Farrell, N., Ed. The Royal Society of Chemistry Cambridge, 1999, pp 26-57. 

---