Sources of Cysteine-Based Pharmaceutical Drugs and Their Halal Aspects in Pharmaceutical Product Development

Abstract

Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, so supplements and medicines consumed must be halal (permissible in Islamic law). Cysteine is an essential amino acid that is crucial to human biological functions. Cysteine can be used as a mucolytic agent to help thin mucus in respiratory diseases such as bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). It also serves as an antidote to acetaminophen for detoxification purposes or as an antidote to counteract paracetamol (acetaminophen) overdose, a commonly used drug to relieve pain and reduce fever. Additionally, it functions as a supplement. This research aims to comprehensively review the sources of cysteine, its production, and its use in pharmaceuticals, as well as the opinions of scholars regarding the halal aspects that need to be considered in developing pharmaceutical products containing cysteine. The methods employed include searching through references from research articles obtained from Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, NCBI, Elsevier, and the Qur'an, Hadiths, and other Islamic literature sources. The compound structures are depicted using the ChemSketch tool from ACD/Labs. Mucolytic and acetaminophen drugs, such as acetylcysteine, can be derived from both animal and plant sources through chemical and non-chemical separation processes. Cysteine is generally a precursor for the synthesis of acetylcysteine. Cysteine sourced from specific organs, such as pig hair, has differing opinions among various scholars regarding its permissibility. However, the prevailing view and fatwa tend to lean towards its prohibition, depending on the source, process, and urgency of its use.