Angong Niuhuang Pill

Angong Niuhuang Pills are a classic traditional Chinese medicine formula for opening the orifices, originating from the "Wan's Niuhuang Pills" in the Ming Dynasty text *Wan's Family-Transmitted Secrets of Infant Care*. Improved and established by the Qing Dynasty physician Wu Jutong in 1798, they are one of the "Three Treasures for Warm Diseases" (alongside Zhibao Dan and Zixue Dan). The original formula contained 12 herbs, including buffalo horn, musk, and rhinoceros horn. In 1993, due to the classification of rhinos as a first-class protected animal, rhinoceros horn was replaced with buffalo horn concentrate powder. The modern formulation consists of ingredients such as buffalo horn, buffalo horn concentrate powder, artificial musk, pearl, cinnabar, realgar, coptis, scutellaria, gardenia, turmeric, and borneol, shaped into large honey pills coated with gold foil, appearing yellow-orange to reddish-brown in color with a rich, aromatic fragrance and a slightly bitter taste. Traditionally, the efficacy of Angong Niuhuang Pills is to "clear heat, open the orifices, resolve phlegm, and detoxify," targeting the syndrome of "heat obstruction with mental confusion" (where pathogenic heat penetrates the pericardium), characterized by high fever, mental confusion, delirium, restlessness, and convulsive seizures. In modern clinical practice, they are widely used for severe conditions such as febrile coma (e.g., epidemic meningitis, toxic encephalopathy, sepsis), stroke-induced coma (ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke), and high fever convulsions in children. Pharmacological research indicates that the formula exerts anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and neuroprotective effects through multiple components and targets, making it a crucial emergency medication in traditional Chinese medicine while also embodying the heritage value of traditional pharmaceutical culture.