Review: Bismuth complexes: synthesis and applications in biomedicine

Abstract

This paper reviews the synthesis and biomedical applications of bismuth complexes with unusually low toxicity and excellent clinical performances, summarizes their main synthesis methods, and biomedical applications as drugs for the therapeutic treatment of gastrointestinal disease, Helicobacter pylori infection, and various cancers; especially, describes the development of bismuth-based MOFs in the drug delivery and potential application in cancer treatment. *Corresponding authors.A variety of bismuth complexes have been extensively explored in biomedical applications. The well-known low toxicity and environmental friendliness of bismuth salts make them valuable for large-scale synthesis of various bismuth-based complexes, which become more significant as active pharmaceutical ingredients of medical products. Bismuth complexes have been widely and preferably used in biomedicine with satisfactory therapeutic effect, which is highlighted in this review. However, their synthesis methods have been scarcely summarized. The classification of the main synthesis methods of bismuth complexes has been done here, followed by updates of the relevant advances concerning applications in biomedicine such as therapeutic effect on gastrointestinal diseases, antimicrobial, and anticancer activities, and the description of the side effect and biotoxicity resulting from long-term use of bismuth as well. Bismuth containing metal-organic frameworks, newly developed bismuth-based materials, are also discussed here, becoming a hot research topic recently. An outlook for future study on the potential use of bismuth complexes in biomedicine is provided in the end.

Application of Protocols Devised to Study Bi(III) Complex Formation by Voltammetry: The Bi(III)–Picolinic Acid System

“…(1) A list describing selected symbols, (2) information from polarographic-pH titrations, (3) a structure of a Bi(III)-PA complex, (4) information regarding ESI-MS studies, (5) the derivation of the MBEs used to calculate formation constants using a spreadsheet, (6) information from polarographic-pH titrations when nitrates are included as competing species, (7) comparison of stability constants for various metal ion-picolinic acid complexes (PDF)…”

“…Bismuth has been used in medicinal preparations for decades, as highlighted in several review articles. (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7) The most widespread use of bismuth compounds is in the treatment of peptic ulcers where bismuth acts against Helicobacter pylori found in the human gastric mucosa which is responsible for these ulcers. (3,(8)(9)(10)(11) The antibacterial characteristics of bismuth have led to its use in treating other bacterial or yeast infections.…”

A novel copper(II) complex identified as a potent drug against colorectal and breast cancer cells and as a poison inhibitor for human topoisomerase IIα

“…This process has often involved the use of metal complexes. [1] Cisplatin is widely used for the treatment of many cancers [2] despite its high toxicity, undesirable side effects, and problems with drug resistance in primary and metastatic cancers. [3] These limitations have spurred a growing interest in novel non-platinum metal complexes that can show anti-cancer properties.…”

Synthesis and Spectroscopic Studies of Bismuth(III) Iodide Porphyrins

“…First reports about application of bismuth containing salts for treatment of dyspepsia appeared in 1786. [1] Currently, such medicinal compounds of bismuth as de-nol, desmol, tribimol, vicair, vikalin and etc., are well-known for treatment of gastritis and peptic ulcer disease. [2,3] Recently, antitumor effectiveness of bismuth complex with diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid was demonstrated in binary radiation therapy.…”