Bufo bufo asiaticus Steindachner (Chansu)

Distribution:
Most area in China. Mainly produced in Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Hunan, Jiangsu, Zhejiang provinces.
 
Properties (characteristics):
Acrid, warm, toxic.
 
Channels (meridians) entered:
Heart, kidney, stomach
 
Actions & Indications:
For food poisoning with Stomachache and bloating, vomiting with diarrhea, even fainting. Usually combine with she xiang, Flos Caryophylli (Dingxiang), Rhizoma Atractylodis (Cangzhu), like formula called chan su wan.
 
For bunacles, scofula, painful and swollen throat and various kinds of toothache: combine with xiong huang, ku fan, zhu sha etc. Make into pills the sizes of mung beans. Take five pills each time with decoction of white portions of green onion. For scarlet fever usually combine with niu huang, xiong huang, Borneolum Syntheticum (Bingpian), like liu shen wan.

Being used in various types of cancer, like liver cancer, intestine cancer, Leukemia, skin cancer etc. Taking orally or external application have been successful to certain degree, according to some reports.
Being used in respiratory and in circulatory exhaustion. It possesses the effect of raising blood pressure for long time. It also possesses respiratory stimulating effect.

Chemical ingredients:
1. steroid type of cardiac stimulant there are more than 10 types, mostly are the product of the drying process of chan su, like cinobufagin, about 5%, resibufogenin RBG,
2. Indole type of alkaloidsbufotenine, bufotenidine, dehydrobufotenine, bufothionine, and serotonin etc.  Also contain sterole, epinephrine and different animo acid.

Dosage:
Use appropriate amount externally or mix with plaster and apply to affected areas. To take orally: 0.015 to 0.03g. (highly toxic).

Cautions:
Not to be taken during pregnancy. In externally application, avoid getting into the eyes. As antidote, make decoction with gan cao 30 g, bai ji 30 g and take orally.