toxicity classification and detoxification strategies of chinese materia medica

Abstract

In recent years, more and more poison incidents of Chinese Materia Medica (CMM) were reported by China and other countries, which made people to doubt about the safety of CMM, especially for the toxic CMM. In this review, the toxicity of CMM and the toxicity classification of CMM were introduced. And traditional TCM theory and methods particularly used for control and attenuation of CMM's toxicity were described in detail. The traditional processing technology and CMM drug combination were most important detoxifying measures used in CMM formulation and clinical practice. Finally, some factors that have influence on occurrence of CMM's toxicity were discussed such as different species, producing technology and so on.