Emergence of Gold and Its Complexes in Medicine
2025
The medical applications of gold and its compounds were triggered by the revelation of the bacteriostatic properties of gold cyanide in 1890. Later, gold therapy was introduced for treating tuberculosis. Subsequent research established the efficacy of gold compounds against rheumatoid arthritis. Since then, several gold-containing drugs have been employed for treating several rheumatic diseases. In addition, gold therapy has shown some promising results in the treatment of several skin inflammatory disorders, such as urticaria, pemphigus and psoriasis. Colloidal gold has been shown to fight against certain infections. Gold nanoparticles and surface-modified gold nanoparticles have shown promising results in anticancer chemotherapy. For the diagnosis and treatment of cancer, gold nanoparticles are the preferred agents owing to their biocompatibility and unique optical properties. This chapter provides an overview of the emergence of gold and its complexes in medicine for the treatment of different diseases, such as bacterial, fungal and viral diseases, cancer and inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis.