Cantharidin Revisited

Abstract

antharidin, a vesicant produced by beetles in the order Coleoptera, has a long history in both folk and traditional medicine. In dermatology, topical cantharidin has long been used to treat warts and molluscum. In 1962, cantharidin lost Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval owing to the failure of its manufacturers to submit data attesting to cantharidin's efficacy. However, it is expected that the FDA will soon include cantharidin on its "Bulk Substances List," which would permit physicians or pharmacists to compound cantharidin to be used in the office for individual patients. A comprehensive discussion of the origins, folk uses, current FDA status, current dermatologic uses, and effects of cantharidin poisoning has been compiled herein. No cases of systemic intoxication or scarring have been reported with the proper use of cantharidin by a physician. Cantharidin is a safe and valuable medication and should be readded to the dermatologic therapeutic armamentarium.

Analysis of cantharidin in false blister beetles (Coleoptera: Oedemeridae) by headspace solid-phase microextraction and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry

“…Furthermore, cantharidin has important antitumor properties and has been used as an anticancer agent for the treatment of hepatoma and oesophageal carcinoma. Recently, cantharidin has also been used typically (0.7%) in the treatment of warts [16,17]. Classical methods of analyzing cantharidin involve extraction by solvents.…”

Cantharidin

“…The Spanish fly belongs in the Meloidae family, and more than 1500 species are found worldwide (Moed, Shwayder, & Chang, 2001). Certain species can be found in alfalfa fields in Southern and Southwestern United States (Moed et al, 2001).…”

“…The Spanish fly belongs in the Meloidae family, and more than 1500 species are found worldwide (Moed, Shwayder, & Chang, 2001). Certain species can be found in alfalfa fields in Southern and Southwestern United States (Moed et al, 2001). Produced by male beetles, cantharidin makes up 10% of total body weight and functions as a potent defensive mechanism, whereas the female beetle will acquire cantharidin from its mate after copulation (Carrel et al, 1993).…”

“…It was first described in 1810 by a French chemist Pierre Robiquet who isolated the toxin and documented its blistering and poisonous properties (Robiquet, 1810). Cantharidin has long been used in dermatology to treat molluscum contagiosum (MC), a self-limited skin disease caused by the poxvirus, as well as a topical agent against verrucae (Moed et al, 2001).…”

“…Hippocrates was said to have prescribed cantharidin for dropsy, otherwise known as edema (Moed et al, 2001). Cantharidin is even better known for its reputation as an aphrodisiac.…”