• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.4 no.2
• /
• pp.35-47
• /
• 2001

Objectives : Through the literatures on the effets of Bufonis Venenum, we are finding out the clinical possibility and revealing the more effective to intractable diseases. Methods : We investigated the literatures of Oriental Medicine and experimental reports about Bufonis Venenum. Results : 1. Bufonis Venenum is made of bufonidae bufo bufo gargarizans cantor or bufo melanostictus schneider of white serum which secreted from parotid gland or dermato gland, and it is dried for using. 2. In oriental medicine, Bufonis Venenum has been mainly used on the tumors, cacanthrax and dermatic disease, and then it has been clinically used on infantile athrepsia, tetanus, sore throat, toothache, and so on. 3. The pharmacological effects of Bufonis Venenum are cardiotonic, respiration stimulation, depressor or vasopressor, topical anesthcsia, hallucination, striped muscle stimulation, antiasthmatic, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, anticancer, diuretic, immuno effects, etc. 4. Bufonis Venenum is largely divided in ether binding steroid compound, hydroxyl steroid compound, carboxyl or aldehyde steroid compound, indole compound, and adrenaline, cholesterole, etc. 5. Symptoms of Bufonis Venenum poisoning in digestive system are vommitig, abdominal pain, diarrhea, dehydration, in circulatory system are palpitation, shock, bradycardia, in nervous system are vertigo, somnolentia, muscle-tendon reflex weakness, and critical conditions to tissue necrosis and heart attack. 6. Ways to treat Bufonis Venenum poisoning include gastric irrigation with $0.2~0.5\%$ potassium permanganate fluid and atropine $0.5{\sim}1.0mg$ subcutaneous injection. From the chinese book of Bon Cho Gang Moke(本草綱目), if white serum of Bufonis Venenum enter the eyes, it happens the edema and pain. And then washed the eyes by juice of Lithospermi Radix(紫草) that the edema is removed. Conclusions and Discussion : The results from above literary studies show that prescriptions and Aqua-acupuncture of Bufonis Venenum could be clinically used to sedative, anticonvulsant, antibacterial, antiinflammatory, anticancer and topical ataralgesia. However it is expected that pharmacological and side effects of Bufonis Venenum are further studied.

• Biomolecules & Therapeutics
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.51-54
• /
• 2001

Bufonis Venenum is a toad venom and its main components are bufadienolides, namely resibufogenin, bufalin and cinobufagin. The desensitizing effect of Bufonis Venenum is useful for the treatment of the premature ejaculation in Chinese medicine. But, minor components of Bufonis Venenum cause problems such as topical burring, pain, and erectile dysfunction. To clarify and eliminate the components responsible for these side effects, we prepared two extracts of Bufonis Venenum with either 70% ethanol or ethylacetate and tested their pharmacological effects. The extract of Bufonis Venenum with 70% ethanol produced pain response in rat hind paw, and exhibited contraction of rabbit corpus cavernosal muscle in vitro. On the other hand, the ethylacetate extract did not cause pain and smooth muscle contraction. The desensitizing effect of the ethylacetate extract was similar to that of the 70% ethanol extract. In conclusion, these results show that the extract of Bufonis Venenum with ethylacetate does not have the components causing side effects and deserve further study for therapeutic potential in premature ejaculation in men.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.121-133
• /
• 2009

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to find out the clinical possibility of Bufonis Venenum used without toxicity and side effect. Methods : We investigated the pharmacological effects, toxicity and processing of Bufonis Venenum through the literatures and studies. Results : Bufonis Venenum is made by parotid gland of dermato gland of Bufo bufo gargarizns or B. melanostictus Schneider, and it is dried for using. The medical ation of Bufonis Venenum are cardiotonic, respiration stimulation, anticancer, topical anesthesia. The toxic symptoms of Bufonis Venenum are relative with digestive, circulatory, nervous system similared with digitalis toxicity. It is important to take 0.015-0.03g by mouth, external use about 1-4% 0.5-3ml and 2-8ml injections by 20ml mix to 5% dextrose fluid. Bufonis Venenum is processed to prevent toxicity and evaluate efficacy by alcohol and milk. There are 68 prescription consisted by Bufonis Venenum in KTKP(Korean Traditional Knowledge Portal). They usually use for antiabcess, anticancer with Moschus moschiferus(麝香), Cinnabar(朱砂). Conclusions : The results from above literary studies show that internal, external medicine and Aqua-acupuncture of Bufonis Venenum could be clinically used to sedative, antiinflammatory, anticancer and topical ataralgesia without toxity through optimum dose and processing.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.165-169
• /
• 2017

Objectives : The aim of this study is to report the effect of surgical method after Bufonis Venenum Pharmacopuncture Anesthesia on epidermal cyst. Methods : A 49-year-old male was presented with a $1.5{\times}1.5(cm)$ sized epidermal cyst on the upper back. Local anesthesia was achieved with Bufonis Venenum pharmacopuncture. After 5 minutes, 2.5cm incision was made using 11th blade. To minimize bleeding, the laser($CO_2$ Hani-maehwa laser-surgical mode) was excised to the cyst wall. After incision, cyst were separated and removed using adson forceps and iris scissors. Then buried intradermal suture and simple interrupted suture were performed. Yeonkyopaedok-san was administered for 5 days for anti-inflammatory effects. After 10 days, the suture was removed after confirmation of skin adhesion. Results : Cyst size measured $1.0{\times}1.0{\times}1.0(cm)$. Until the suture is removed, Adverse effects were not reported. Conclusions : Bufonis Venenum pharmacopuncture applies to local anesthesia. Korean medicine cautery method applies to laser($CO_2$ Hani-maehwa laser). It can be considered that To expand the application of surgical treatment in korean medicine.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.126-132
• /
• 2020

Objectives : The study is to report cases of open/closed types of epidermal cyst removed by surgical method with Bufonis Venenum pharmacopuncture. Methods : 2 patients were diagnosed each open/closed epidermal cyst. Local anesthesia was achieved with Bufonis Venenum pharmacopuncture. Incision was made using 15^th blade and the CO₂ Hani-maehwa laser. After cyst was removed, simple interrupted suture was performed. Eunkyo-san and Yeonkyopaedok-san were administered respectively for 7 days for anti-inflammatory effects. Results : Local anesthesia was maintained until epidermal cysts were clearly removed. The suture was removed after confirmation of skin adhesion. Adverse reactions were not reported. Conclusions : Epidermal cysts were removed surgically after Bufonis Venenum pharmacopuncture anesthesia and the risk of infection can be prevented by administering herbal medicines that have anti-inflammatory properties. It is difficult to visually diagnose closed type of epidermal cyst and then suggests that imaging equipment such as ultrasound is required.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.119-124
• /
• 2018

Three cases of simple exanthematous eruption were suspected during Sumsu (Bufonis Venenum) pharmacopuncture (SP) topical anesthesia for acupotomy. Patients had skin rash with pruritus on both ankle, posterior neck, and left shoulder after 11, 12, and 7 times of SP treatment, respectively. There were no cases of systemic manifestations or changes in vital signs. As a result of using the World Health Organization-Uppsala Monitoring Centre (WHO-UMC) causality assessment, all the cases were evaluated as 'unlikely'. However, the results of using the Korean algorithm for assessing the causality of drug adverse reactions version 2.0 were evaluated as 'possible'. This report is the first case report on adverse events suspected of occurring after SP treatment. Although the causal relationship between suspected intervention and the adverse event is not clear, there was a difficulty in completely excluding the possibility. Additional safety studies will be required to make SP more widely available.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.18 no.5
• /
• pp.1449-1455
• /
• 2004

Bufonis venenum (dried toad venom; Chinese name, Chan su) is a traditional Chinese medicine obtained from the skin venom gland of the toad. It has long been used in treating arrhythmia and other heart diseases in China and other Asian countries. Additionally, Bufonis venenum has been reported to selectively inhibit the growth of various lines of human cancer cells. In the present study, it was examined the effects of extract of Bufonis venenum (EBV) on the growth of human bladder carcinoma cell line T24 in order to investigate the anti-proliferative mechanism and induction of apoptosis by EBV. Treatment of T24 cells to EBV resulted in the growth inhibition, morphological change and induction of apoptotic cell death in a dose-dependent manner. Flow cytometric analysis revealed that EBV treatment caused G2/M phase arrest of the cell cycle and down-regulation of cyclin A, cyclin B1 and Cdc2, which was associated with a marked up-regulation of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) inhibitor p21 (WAF1/CIP1) in a p53-independent manner. The Cdc25C expression was also significantly inhibited by EBV treatment, however Wee1 kinase expression was not affected. The induction of apoptotic cell death by EBV was connected with down-regulation of anti-apoptotic Bcl-XS/L expression without alteration pro-apoptotic Bax expression. Taken together, these findings suggest that EBV may be a potential chemotherapeutic agent for the control of human bladder carcinorma cells and further studies will be needed to identify the active compounds that confer the anti-cancer activity of EBV.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.27-33
• /
• 2014

Objectives: The main objective of this study was to evaluate the anti-depressant effects of pharmacopuncture using sumsu (Bufonis venenum). Methods: Animals were divided into three groups (control, sham, and experimental), with eight mice per group. The sham and the experimental groups were exposed to 2 hours of immobilization stress daily for 14 days. They were also injected with normal saline (sham) or subjected to pharmacopuncture with sumsu at the acupoints HT7, SP6, and GV20 (experimental). The depression or anxiety-like behaviors of the mice in each group were evaluated 1 day after treatment. Results: There was no difference in locomotor activity between the groups during the open-field test; i.e., all groups had normal motor function. However, the open-field and the forced-swimming tests revealed that depression and anxiety-like behaviors were decreased significantly in the group treated with sumsu pharmacopuncture. Conclusion: Sumsu pharmacopuncture attenuated depressive or anxiety-like behavior in mice stressed with chronic immobilization. These results suggest that sumsu pharmacopuncture has therapeutic potential for treating neuropsychiatric disorders such as anxiety or depression disorder.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.171-179
• /
• 2008

Objective: Bufonis Venenum is the traditional Korean medicine Chan Su, which is obtained from the skin and parotid venom gland of the toads. It has been used for myocardial diseases, inflammation diseases, pain relief, cancer and others. The main components of BV are cinobufotoxin, cinobufalin, bufalin and others. Of these, bufalin, the major active ingredient of BV, has been reported to induce apoptosis and to possess anti-tumor effects. There was no report of anti-tumor screening of BV on hepatic cancer and which signaling pathway can be involved. In order to examine the effect of BV on hepatic cancer and the related signaling pathway with BV-induced apoptosis, human Hep G2 cells were used. Methods: Analysis of apoptosis was confirmed by MTT assay. BV decreased cell viability in a dose and duration dependent manner. To observe which signaling molecules will be activated by BV, phosphorylation of MAPK (p38, ERK, JNK), caspase 8 and caspase 9 were examined by Western blot analysis. Results: The phosphorylation levels of p38 started to increase at 5 min after addition of 5 ${\mu}g$/ml of BV and sustained to increase until 48 hours. The phosphorylation levels of other MAPK (ERK and JNK), caspase 8 and caspase 9 increased in a time-dependent manner. These imply that BV may activate different signaling pathways, MAPK, caspase 8 and caspase 9. These results propose that BV may induce apoptosis on Hep G2 cells through the activation of MAPK, caspase 8 and caspase 9.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.32 no.3
• /
• pp.175-183
• /
• 2015

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Sumsu (Bufonis venenum) pharmacopuncture on insomnia and depression. Methods : We investigated 32 patients with a sleep disorder who had been recruited at a Korean medical hospital from March $1^{st}$, 2014 to April $16^{th}$, 2015. We divided subjects into two groups : The control group(N=15) was treated with Normal Saline and the experimental group(N=17) was treated with Sumsu(Bufonis venenum) pharmacopuncture. The subjects were injected with 0.05 ml~0.1 ml, for a total of 0.6 ml on each acupuncture point. These were Pungbu ($GV_{16}$), Pungi ($GB_{20}$), Gyeonjeong ($GB_{21}$), and Anmyun(EX-$HN_{20}$). Both groups were evaluated with the beck depression inventory(BDI) and given an insomnia score before treatment, after one week, two weeks and four weeks from the initial visit. Results : The Insomnia score and BDI decreased significantly in the experimental group. In comparing the control group with the experimental group, there was a more significant improvement of the insomnia score in the experimental group during all periods of this study. However, the difference of change in BDI between the control group and experimental group was only significant in the first week. Conclusions : Sumsu (Bufonis venenum) pharmacopuncture can be used as an effective treatment for patients with insomnia and depression.