Calculus bovis

{{Short description|Dried gallstones of cattle used in Chinese herbology}}

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{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}Calculus bovis,Ingredients, AN KUNG NIU HUANG WAN (Bezoar Chest Functioning Pills), Beijing Tong Ren Tang, Peking, China. 1980. [http://db.ouryao.com/yd2015/view.php?v=txt&id=1191 PPRC 2015 entry] niu-huang ({{linktext|牛黃}}) or cattle gallstones are dried gallstones of cattle used in Chinese herbology. In China and Japan it has been long used to treat various diseases, including high fever, convulsion and stroke.{{Cite journal|last1=Yu|first1=Zhi-Jie|last2=Xu|first2=Ying|last3=Peng|first3=Wei|last4=Liu|first4=Yu-Jie|last5=Zhang|first5=Jin-Ming|last6=Li|first6=Jin-Song|last7=Sun|first7=Tao|last8=Wang|first8=Ping|date=2020-05-23|title=Calculus bovis: A review of the traditional usages, origin, chemistry, pharmacological activities and toxicology|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32068140/|journal=Journal of Ethnopharmacology|volume=254|pages=112649|doi=10.1016/j.jep.2020.112649|issn=1872-7573|pmid=32068140|s2cid=211161780 }}

In Asian countries, calculus bovis are sometimes harvested when steers (Bos taurus domesticus) are slaughtered. Their gall bladders are taken out, the bile is filtered, and the stones are cleaned and dried. The bezoars may also be surgically removed by veterinarians when working cattle become ill. In Western countries, they are usually discarded. Its equivalent in Hindu culture is Gorochana.

Calculus bovis have a color varying from golden yellow to brownish yellow. The shape of a stone is variable and depends on how it was formed, becoming spherical, oval, triangular, tubular, or irregular.

Since natural calculus bovis are scarce, they can be very expensive. In 2025, the leader of a gallstone trading company in Brazil reported paying between $1,700 and $4,000 an ounce which works out to a single gallstone being worth more than the meat of an entire cow.{{Cite web |last=WSJ |first=Samantha Pearson / Photographs by Fábio Setti for |title=Cattle Gallstones, Worth Twice as Much as Gold, Drive a Global Smuggling Frenzy |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/americas/cattle-gallstones-chinese-traditional-medicine-c12d6d78?mod=hp_lead_pos7 |access-date=2025-01-20 |website=WSJ |language=en-US}}

There are artificial calculus bovis or bovis calculus artifactus used as substitutes. In China, these are manufactured from cholic acid derived from bovine bile combined with dry bovine bile powder, porcine ursodeoxycholic acid, taurine, bilirubin, cholesterol, etc.{{cite web |title=人工牛黄 |url=https://www.cowgallstones.com/artificial |website=(cowgallstones.com) |accessdate=10 July 2020 |archive-date=11 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711230933/https://www.cowgallstones.com/artificial |url-status=dead }} Chinese regulations forbid the use of artificial calculus bovis in 42 drugs.{{cite web|title=关于牛黄及其代用品使用问题的通知|url=http://www.sda.gov.cn/WS01/CL0844/10163.html|website=www.sda.gov.cn|publisher=国食药监局|accessdate=2017-05-07|ref=国食药监注[2004]21号|date=2004-01-21|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611050424/http://www.sda.gov.cn/WS01/CL0844/10163.html|archivedate=2011-06-11}}

Calculus bovis can be cultivated (induced) in vivo by implanting a foreign object and microbials into bovine biles.{{cite book|author1=石元春|title=20世纪中国学术大典：农业科学|date=2002|publisher=Fujian Education Press|location=福州|isbn=9787533431631|edition=第一版|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=25P8mUOPBE8C|language=zh}}{{rp|478}} It can also be cultivated (precipitated) in vitro from bovine bile by adding ursodeoxycholic acid, cholic acid, and calcium bilirubinate, producing calculus bovis sativus.{{cite news|author1=张晓松|title=背景：何谓人工牛黄、培植牛黄和体外培育牛黄|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2004-03/31/content_1394537.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080218042730/http://news.xinhuanet.com/newscenter/2004-03/31/content_1394537.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=February 18, 2008|website=新华网|accessdate=2017-05-07}}{{cite web|title=体外培育牛黄说明书|url=http://www.tongrentangjb.com/zy/4745.html|publisher=北京同仁堂|accessdate=2017-05-07}}{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Unlike artificial calculus bovis, either type of cultivated calculus bovis can fully replace calculus bovis under Chinese regulations.