Introduction: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is widely used around the world. However, with its wide use has been the identification of a number of toxicological issues that have severely restricted its use in clinical treatment. The identification of these toxic substances within TCM has become somewhat of a hot topic in recent years.
Areas covered: This article reviews literature published on professional authoritative journals in the last 10 years on the toxic constituents and toxicology of TCM, including chemical structures, absorption and metabolism. The literature search for this article was based, but not limited to, toxic constituents including: alkaloids, glycosides, toxic proteins, polypeptide, amino acids, phenols or organic acids, terpenes and lactones. The authors discuss the toxic substances referring to their toxicity on organs, tissues and systems.
Expert opinion: More and more toxic constituents from different TCMs have been identified, in addition to information on how they act in the body at a molecular level. However, the toxicology of TCMs is very complex, and although some progress has been made, a lot work is still needed in order to put an end to toxic incidents.