Bufo, Toad, Chan 蟾

Toad Venom, Chan Su 蟾酥

Toad Venom: Chan Su (TCM)
 Picture Picture
Picture Ortus Sanitatis, Meydenbach, 1491

Picture Toad

Picture Bufo gargarizans
(Photo by DrewHeath) (Wikimedia)

Zoological name:
Bufo spp.
  1. Bufo gargarizans (TCM)
  2. B. melanostictus (TCM)
  3. B. vulgaris (common European Toad)
  4. B. marinus (Cane Toad) and B. alvaris may be used similarly.

Parts used:


1. Whole dried body (organs removed)
2. Carbonised or Ashed body
3. Toad Venom (TCM)

Temperature & Taste:


Warm, dry. Sweet, pungent. Toxic

Classifications:


T. External Medicines

Uses:


WHOLE BODY (Dried for use; sometimes it is ashed. Cool, Pungent, slightly poison):
1. Clears Poison, Reduces Swelling and Masses:
-Boils, Abscesses, Carbuncles, Toxic Sores, Ulcers (internally or externally)
-scrofula, tumors and Cancer (Toad ashes)
-traditionally used for Plague buboes, pestilential carbuncles and venereal sores.
-Also for acute sore throat, and fevers with a rash. (Used similarly in the East and West)
-also taken for Rabid Dog bites. (TCM)

2. Clears Damp, Promotes Urine:
-Edema, insufficient urination etc.
-The dried and powdered material was said to ‘cure incurable dropsy’. The Ash or Salt was said to be just as effective. (Salmon, Schroder)

3. Stops Bleeding:
-‘The Whole body of the Toad dried, and held under the arm pits, in the hand, or behind the Ear, or hung about the neck, is accounted a specific to stop bleeding at the Nose. It stays Menstrums, or irregular losses of blood in Women, being applied to the Navel’. (French Pharmacopeia, Charras)

4. Tonic:
-Also for wasting diseases of any of the 5 major organs, including emaciated tubercular infants, consumption etc. (TCM)
-Infantile malnutrition with sallow complexion, including that from Worms (burnt Toad, TCM)
-‘Eliminates Heat of a deficient Nature’. (Ben Cao Gang Mu, TCM)

5. Kills Worms:
-used for Worms. (Ben Cao Gang Mu, TCM)

6. Externally:
-ash applied to toxic and malignant Sores (TCM)
-ash applied to Eczema (Yao Xing Ben Cao, TCM)
-Oil of Toads was applied to swelling, Tumors and Cancers
-In Europe, a Toads hip bone was touched to an aching tooth to cure it
-plaster of a whole Toad boiled was applied to acute sore throat
-applied to the Kidneys to promote Urine
-an ointment of Toads (in butter) was applied to swellings, sprains and rheumatism
-powdered Toad skin is sprinkled on chronic leg ulcers (TCM)
-Ulcer of the Vulva (TCM)


VENOM (Hot, dry. Sweet, Pungent and poisonous):
1. Clears Heat and Poison, Stops Pain:
-Boils, Carbuncles, Ulcers, Tumors,
-Cellulitis, Osteomyelitis
-toxic and swollen Sore Throat.
-all sorts of skin inflammations which were treated with the ashed skin mixed in Vinegar and applied.
    
2. Stops Pain:
-Toothache (including that from caries), bleeding from between the teeth, severe sore throat.
-heatstroke and fainting
-has also been given for abdominal colic, and fullness in the chest and abdomen.
-other types of severe pain including that of Rheumatism.

3. Strengthens Heart:
-chest tightness and pain, shortness of Breath, intermittent pulse, arrhythmia
-Coronary Heart Disease, Heart Failure in modern China (due to cardioactive glycosides)

4. Clears Poison, Resolves Masses:
-used for Tumors and Cancers.

5. Externally:
-toothache, bleeding of the teeth and tooth caries. (TCM)
-in ointment for Tumors, Cancers and Cancer pain


Dose:


Dried and Powdered Toad: 500mg–1.5 grams;
Carbonised Toad or Toad Ashes: 1–3 grams; a small (Chinese) spoonful was typically used in TCM.
Toad Venom: 15–30mg in pills

Preparation:


1. Scorched or Calcined Toad:
  In both West and TCM, Burnt or ashed Toads are used. Li Shi Zhen recommended wrapping the Toad in clay, letting it dry, then calcining it. This will generally burn or cabonise them. 
  Sometimes they were only ordered to be burnt until yellow. In such cases, the dried Toads can be cut into pieces, then stir-fried until yellow and slightly burnt, but not blackened.
2. Wine-Prepared Toad:
i. Soak the Toad in wine, then dry.
ii. Soak in Wine, then stir-fry until yellowed.
iii. Simmer a dried Toad in wine until it forms a paste. This can then be mixed with other ingredients to form pills.
iv. Cut off the Toad skin and legs and soak in wine overnight. Then soak in the juice of Polygonatum Huang Jing overnight. Then coat in butter and stir-fry until dry. (Shu Tai Jing, TCM)
3. Prepared Toad Venom (Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
  Break Toad Venom into pieces, macerate in twice its weight of Rice Wine (white spirit), stir until it becomes an extract, dry, and powder.

Main Combinations:


1. Stop Bleeding, Toad powder with Agrimony.
2. Toxic Sores, Toad ash mixed with Vinegar and applied.
3. Abdominal masses from Cold, Phlegm and Qi stagnation, removed internal organs and skin of a Toad, cut the body into pieces and boil in water, adding Glauber’s Salt (Mang Xiao), the drink the draught. (Zhou Hou Fang, TCM)
4. Infantile malnutrition with distended abdomen and emaciation:
i. take a Toad, remove the head, legs and organs, cover the body with oil and stir-fry until dry, then give it to eat. Foul substances will be passed in defecation. Eat 5 or 6 Taods consecutively and after a month the patient will look and feel better. (Ben Cao Gang Mu, TCM)
ii. Dry a Toad in clay (1), Gleditsia Zai Jia) (3 grams), Calm shell burnt (Ge fen) (9 grams), Musk (She Xiang) (3 grams). Powder, mix with a paste of wheat and form pills the size of millet. Give 30–40 pills twice daily before meals with rice water. (this is called Wu Gan Bao Tong Wan)

TOAD VENOM:
1. Tonsillitis, acute severe Sore Throat, from Heat and Toxin:
i. as a pill with Pearl and Bezoar.
ii. Clove, Toad Venom, Realgar, Bezoar, Pearl, Borneol Camphor (Liu Ying Wan of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
iii. Artificial Bezoar (4. 8 grams), burnt Mother of Pearl shell (9. 6 grams), Toad Venom (2. 9 grams), Indigo (3. 8 grams), Trichosanthes root Tian Hua Fen (9. 6 grams), Rhubarb (9. 6 grams), Realgar (9. 6 grams). Make 1000 tablets. Also used for Furuncles and Carbuncles. Dose: 1 tablet three times per day. (as in Niu Huang Xiao Yan Pian)
iv. Pharyngitis, Laryngitis, Tonsillitis: Toad Venom, Bezoar, Woad root, Borneol Camphor, Indigo, Pig Bile, Glaubers Salt, Realgar, Borax (as in Pill for Throat Diseases, a TCM Patent medicine, to be held in the mouth and sucked)
2. Sores; malignant, red and hard swellings; Mastitis etc. Toad Venom, Snail, Musk, Realgar, Cinnabar, Borneo Camphor are formed into Troches. To use, they are powdered, mixed with vinegar to a paste and applied. (TCM Patent medicine)
3. Chest Pain and Tightness, Shortness of Breath, Angina Pectoris, Arrhythmias:
i. with Salvia Dan Shen
ii. from Qi and Blood stagnation with an intermittent pulse, with Red Ginseng, Notoginseng San Qi, Salvia Dan Shen, Amber, Styrax Su He Xiang, Borneol Camphor (Bing Pian) (as in Ling Bao Hu Xin Dan of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
iii. Musk, Ginseng extract, Bezoar, Cinnamon, Storax, Toad Venom, Borneol Camphor (as in She Xiang Bao Xin Wan)
4. Toxic Heat causing Furuncles, Carbuncles, Swollen and Painful Throat, Mouth and Tongue Sores: Bezoar (60 grams), Pearl (90 grams), Musk (60 grams), Toad Venom prepared (60 grams), Bear (Cow) Bile 30 grams, Realgar (30 grams), Cinnabar (60 grams), Borax (30 grams), Lepidium Ting Li Zi (30 grams), Olibanum (30 grams), Myrrh (30 grams), Dragons Blood (30 grams), Aloeswood (30 grams), Borneo Camphor (30 grams), form pills (10 pills per gram). Dose: 3 pills (300mg) once or twice daily. (Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
5. Swollen painful gums and Toothache from Tooth caries: Toad Venom (24 grams), Cinnabar (5 grams), Realgar (6 grams), Licorice (24 grams). Make small water pills to be sucked, making sure to spit out the saliva and avoid swallowing. A hollow tooth can be filled with the pill. (as in Ya Tong Yi Li Wan of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
6. Cancer:
i. Toad Venom, Ginseng, Astragalus Huang Qi, Acanthopanax Ci Wu Jia, Sparganium San Leng, Scutellaria Ban Zhi Lian, Cornus Shan Zhu Yu, Ligustrum Nu Zhen Zi, Bear (Cow) Bile, Licorice. This is called Fu Fang Ban Mao Capsule and is a broad spectrum anti-cancer medicine.
ii. later-stage Gastric Cancer, Esophageal Cancer: Toad venom with Bezoar (artificial), Lonicera Jin Yin Hua, Centipede (Wu Gong), Dandelion (Pu Gong Ying), Scutellaria barbata Ban Zhi Lian, Black Nightshade (Long Kui), Pearl, Rhubarb (Da Huang), Olibanum, Myrrh, Corydalis Yan Hu Suo, Safflower (Hong Hua), Pinellia (ginger-processed) Jiang Ban Xia, Codonopsis Dang Shen, Astragalus Huang Qi, Amomum Sha Ren (as in Jin Pu Jiao Nang of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia)
iii. Liver Cancer, Toad venom, Solanum nigrum Long Kui, Prunella Xia Ku Cai, Polygonum cuspidatum Hu Zhang (Chen & Chen)
7. Cancer pain, Toad venom is made into a ointment with vaseline (1:10). Applied to various Cancers, and for Cancer Pain.
8. Toothache, Toad venom, Realgar (Xiong Huang) (3 parts each), Borax (Peng Sha), Licorice (Gan Cao) (2 parts each). Powder and apply to the tooth, or into the cavity of a hollow tooth.
9. Anaesthetic, Toad venom, unprocessed Aconitum Cao Wu, unprocessed Aconitum Chuan Wu, unprocessed Arisaema Tian Nan Xing, unprocessed Pinellia Ban Xia, mix with alcohol to form a tincture for topical application. This can be applied topically for minor surgery including surgery of the sensory organs. Do not ingest and do not apply to broken skin. (Chen & Chen)

Major Formulas:


Black Powder (Pulvis Ethiopicus)
Liu Shen Wan
Dian She Wan (TCM)

Balsamum Tranquillum:
Fresh Toads (2), Leaves of Garden Nightshade, Henbane, Mandrake, Tobacco, Dwarf Elder, Willow (2 handfuls each), Olive oil (6 pounds). Boil slowly to the consumption of the humidity, and infuse in the expressed oil 2 fresh Toads. Wormwood, Calamint, Hyssop, Marjoram, Rue, Tansy, Rosemary, Sage, Lavender, St. Johns wort, Elder flower (of each 1 handful). After 24 hours digestion in a water bath, strain and press. (Saunders)

Cautions:


Caution: Toad Venom is highly toxic; powdered Toad is also toxic, but far less so. Burnt or Carbonised Toad has very little toxicity.
1. Not used during pregnancy.
2. Do not get in or near the eyes as it may cause swelling, inflammation, and blindness.
3. Use Toad Venom very cautiously internally. Some species are much more toxic than others. B. marinus is said to be particularly toxic, and B. alvarius is especially hallucinogenic. Toad venom poisoning resembles Digoxin toxicity.

Drug Interactions:


Do not use with Digoxin or other cardioactive glycosides.

Toxicity:


1. Toad Venom is very toxic in overdose and causes:
i. severe gastrointestinal irritation (nuasea, vomiting, abdominal pain)
ii. cardiovascular symptoms (palpitation, arrhythmia, bradycardia, hypotension, shock)
iii. nervous system (dizziness, headache, numbness, lethargy, leading to seizures and convulsions)
2. LD50 for intravenous injection in mice for Toad Venom is 41 mg/kg, and 96 mg/kg for subcutaneous injection.
3. Toad venom poisoning: resemblance to digoxin toxicity and therapeutic implications
4. Toad poisoning: clinical characteristics and outcomes

Antidote:
1. Emesis; promote vomiting in early stages.
2. Take 5–10 Egg Whites
3. Theriac or Mithridate taken for 3 days
4. Decoction of Rue in wine
5. Cause Sweat by having a hot bath, then take Diacurcuma, Dialacca, Diarhoddon Abbotis, or Troches of Agrimony or of Rhaburb. (De venenis, Ramesey, 1663)
6. Drink large amounts of strong Gren Tea
7. Decoction of fresh Ginger (8 slices) and Licorice (10 grams)
8. In later stage overdose, Rhubarb (15 grams) in decoction as a purgative.
9. Nausea and vomiting can be reliveed with Huo Xiang Zheng Qi San (a compound, also available as alcohol extract)
10. Atropine is successfully used to treat more serious overdose.
11. The novel antidote Bezoar Bovis prevents the cardiotoxicity of Toad (Bufo bufo gargarizans Canto) Venom in mice

Main Preparations used:


Toad Powder; Toad Ashes; Toad Venom
GENERAL / REVIEW
–Use of extracts in animal experiments significantly decreased hemoglobin, hematocrit and total RBC count of male albino mice, while markedly increasing total WBC and lymphocyte count. It also caused a marked decrease in serum glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride levels. (Manika et. al., Indian Journal of Pharmacology, 1998)
–[Processing evolution,chemical components and pharmacological effects of Bufonis Venenum].
–The development of toad toxins as potential therapeutic agents
–Beneficial and adverse effects of toad venom, a traditional Oriental medicine
–Toad skin-secretions: potent source of pharmacologically and therapeutically significant compounds
–Toad venom: A comprehensive review of chemical constituents, anticancer activities, and mechanisms
–Quality evaluation of traditional Chinese drug toad venom from different origins through a simultaneous determination of bufogenins and indole alkaloids by HPLC
–Angel of human health: current research updates in toad medicine

ANTI-INFLAMMATORY
–Toad glandular secretions and skin extractions as anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents

IMMUNOSTIMULATORY
–Studies on anti-tumor and enhancing immunity activity of toad coat

ANTI-CANCER
–Toad glandular secretions and skin extractions as anti-inflammatory and anticancer agents
–Identification of anti‑tumor components from toad venom
–Antitumor activity of extracts and compounds from the skin of the toad Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor
–Identification of antitumor constituents in toad venom by spectrum-effect relationship analysis and investigation on its pharmacologic mechanism
–Advancement in research of anti-cancer effects of toad venom (ChanSu) and perspectives
–An Evidence-based Perspective of Bufo Gargarizans (Asiatic Toad) for Cancer Patients
–Studies on cytotoxic constituents from the skin of the toad Bufo bufo gargarizans
BREAST
–Toad skin extract cinobufatini inhibits migration of human breast carcinoma
EHRLICH ASCITES TUMOR
–Effects of traditional Chinese herbs, toad tincture and adenosine ‘, ‘cAMP on Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in mice
LIVER
–Arenobufagin, a natural bufadienolide from toad venom, induces apoptosis and autophagy in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells
–Uncovering the Mechanisms of Active Components from Toad Venom against Hepatocellular Carcinoma Using Untargeted Metabolomics
–Anticancer peptide from Chinese toad (Bufo Bufo Gargarizans) skin enhanced sensitivity to 5-Fu in hepatocarcinoma cells (HepG2)
LUNG
–Comparison of toad skins Bufo bufo gargarizans Cantor from different regions for their active constituents content and cytotoxic activity on lung carcinoma cell lines.
MELANOMA
–Toad venom antiproliferative activities on metastatic melanoma: Bio-guided fractionation and screening of the compounds of two different venoms
PANCREATIC
–Prospective randomised evaluation of traditional Chinese medicine combined with chemotherapy: a randomised phase II study of wild toad extract plus gemcitabine in patients with advanced pancreatic adenocarcinomas
PROSTATE
–Toad venom-derived bufadienolides and their therapeutic application in prostate cancers: Current status and future directions

CANCER PAIN
–Effect of toad skin extracts on the pain behavior of cancer model mice and its peripheral mechanism of action