Insects and other arthropods used as drugs in Korean traditional medicine

Abstract

Insects and other arthropods appear in pharmacopoeias of Korean traditional medicine, but little was known about their use in modern South Korea. Interviews were conducted with 20 traditional medicine doctors at clinics in South Korea's Kyeong Dong Shijang in Seoul--one of the world's largest traditional drug markets--to learn about current patterns of usage. Seventeen products are prescribed and the use of arthropod drugs is stable or increasing. Centipedes (Scolopendra spp.) used primarily to treat arthritis and the silk moth fungus (Beauveria bassiana, which infects silk moth larvae) used mostly to treat stroke, are the most frequently prescribed and medically important arthropod drugs. Most of the arthropod drugs were traditionally collected or reared on the Korean Peninsula, but now they are imported, mainly from China. Folk logic appears to be the basis for some arthropod drug uses (i.e. centipedes, which have many legs, are used for leg problems). But many of the arthropods have venom and other defensive chemicals which are biologically active. The South Korean use of arthropods as drugs (as well as for food and enjoyment) is due, in part, to more positive attitudes towards these animals compared to many cultures. Arthropods appear to be an unexplored and unexploited source of drugs for modern medicine.