Johann Tholde (1565–1614)
Antimonials (antimony-containing compounds), now better known for their use in flame-proofing and microelectronics, have been employed as medicines since ancient times, emerging and then departing from the spotlight over the centuries. Writing under the pseudonym Basil Valentine, a purported Benedictine monk, the German alchemist Johann Tholde promoted their medical use. In his work The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony (c. 1602), he describes the properties of the element and its compounds and extols its virtues for syphilis, fevers, and the bubonic plague. Numerous deaths resulted from the use of antimony remedies, and it fell into disfavor—at least for a time.
Later in the seventeenth century, antimony potassium tartrate appeared and was used for reducing fevers until the late nineteenth century, when safer aspirin-like drugs became available. Its still-popular name, tartar emetic, refers to the extreme emesis (vomiting) it causes. Emetics were formerly recommended for the treatment of swallowed poisons; vomiting is now thought to do more harm than good.
The early twentieth century witnessed the introduction into medicine of organic compounds containing such metals as arsenic, gold, mercury, and antimony. Tartar emetic and other organic antimonials, when injected, were found effective against a number of parasitic diseases, including leishmaniasis.
Leishmaniasis is caused by a protozoan parasite transmitted via the bite of a sandfly. The World Health Organization estimates that 12 million people are currently infected, primarily in tropical and subtropical countries, with 1–2 million new cases appearing each year. There are two primary types of leishmaniasis: the common cutaneous form and the severe visceral form (kala-azar), which spreads in the bloodstream and causes swelling of the liver and spleen. If untreated, kala-azar fatality rates approach 100 percent within two years.
The organic antimonial Pentostam (sodium stibogluconate), introduced in the 1940s, is the most effective drug for all forms of leishmaniasis when injected for 20–28 days. Whereas it previously produced cure rates of 85–90 percent, with the development of protozoan resistance, treatment failure rates now approach 60 percent in some parts of India, where the disease is widespread. Antimonials may be once again descending from the summit.
SEE ALSO Aspirin (1899), Atoxyl (1905), Salvarsan (1910), Merbaphen (1920).
A sandfly feasting on a blood meal provided by a victim. In the process, the sandfly spreads the vector-borne protozoan parasite responsible for leishmaniasis.