RESUMO
Asari Radix et Rhizoma （AR） is a traditional Chinese medicine with a history of more than 2 000 years of medication and has been included in ancient herbal works in the past dynasties. It is effective in releasing the exterior， dispersing cold， dispelling wind， relieving pain， opening orifices， warming the lung， and resolving fluids， and is still widely used in the clinical treatment of influenza， coronavirus disease-2019 （COVID-19） pneumonia， asthma， allergic rhinitis， eye pain， headache， toothache， oral ulcer， eczema， etc. Modern pharmacological studies have shown that AR has antipyretic， anti-inflammatory， analgesic， antibacterial， antiviral， relieving cough and asthma， anti-allergy， and other effects. AR contains a variety of chemical components， in which essential oil is not only associated with functions such as dispelling cold， relieving heat， relieving pain， and resisting inflammation and allergy， but is also toxic. AR also contains lignans， flavonoids， amides， phenanthrenes， alkaloids， and other non-volatile oil components， which play an important role in immunity regulation， anti-inflammation， pain relief， heart strengthening， and blood vessel expansion. The phenanthrene compounds are mainly aristolochic acid analogues， such as aristolochic acid Ⅳa and aristolochic lactam Ⅰ. Aristolochic acid Ⅳa has been proven to have a significant anti-inflammatory effect. The toxicity of AR is related to safrole， aristolochic acids and their analogues， and is also affected by many factors， such as preparation method， dosage， origin， collection time， medicinal part， and decocting time， which should be comprehensively considered in clinical application. Based on the relevant literature in China and abroad， the present study reviewed the correlation of chemical composition and pharmacological and toxicological effects of AR， and the safety of AR， aristolochic acid， safrole， and other components to provide a new perspective for an objective understanding of AR safety， as well as references for rational clinical application， production risk prevention and control， and drug scientific supervision of AR.