Wu Gong

A scoping review mapping the compounds, preclinical pharmacology and clinical use of this species. It catalogues the venom peptides (SsmTX-I, scolopendrasins, scolopin 1), whole-body peptides (scolopendins, lactoferricin B-like peptide), quinoline alkaloids and polysaccharide-protein complexes, and finds that human evidence consists almost entirely of seven Korean clinical practice guidelines recommending centipede for knee osteoarthritis, migraine, vertigo, gastric cancer, autism spectrum disorder, carpal tunnel syndrome and shoulder pain, at evidence levels from moderate down to very low. The review reports no controlled human trials, and no hepatotoxicity or anaphylaxis case series; its only safety statement is a guideline caution that centipede is a potentially toxic ingredient and that allergy skin tests should precede centipede pharmacopuncture. Every application it documents uses whole-body aqueous extract, decoction or subcutaneous pharmacopuncture, never an orally administered isolated peptide.

A review of scolopendrid pharmacopuncture for neuropathic dysfunction, pooling three clinical reports (one randomised controlled trial, one prospective open-label trial, one case report) in Bell's palsy, carpal tunnel syndrome and radial nerve palsy, alongside five rat models of nerve ligation or crush injury. Pain fell when pharmacopuncture was added to conventional care in Bell's palsy, but the carpal tunnel comparison showed no significant between-group difference. Acute toxicity testing in rats at 0.21, 0.42 and 0.84 mg/kg produced no deaths or significant adverse effects, giving an LD50 above 0.84 mg/kg for the injected preparation. Read with care for this record: the review centres on Scolopendra polymorpha pharmacopuncture, a different species and a parenteral route, so it does not license conclusions about oral Scolopendra subspinipes mutilans.

The authors purified a 210-amino-acid protein, named Sco m 5, from the crude venom of this species using gel filtration and ion-exchange chromatography, and sequenced it by LC-MS/MS, MALDI-TOF/TOF and protein sequencing. Sco m 5 bound IgE in 83.3% of sera from centipede-allergic patients, gave a positive reaction in 66.7%, and induced degranulation of the human mast cell line HMC-1. This establishes a defined molecular allergen for the exact species used as Wu Gong, and the authors note that reactions follow clinical use of centipede-containing traditional medicines as well as bites.

The first isolation of jineol, a quinoline alkaloid, from the centipede, with its structure settled by 2D NMR. Jineol showed modest cytotoxicity against the human tumour cell lines A-549, SKOV-3, SK-Mel-2, XF-498 and HCT-15.

Jineol was isolated from this species by vacuum liquid chromatography and tested against Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Staphylococcus aureus, showing antibacterial action with damage to bacterial membrane integrity. An in vitro study of an isolated small molecule, not of the decocted drug.

A comparison of the toxin content of the venom gland against that of the torso, that is, of the body material that actually becomes the medicinal drug. The distinction matters directly for this monograph, because it separates what is present in the animal used medicinally from what is present only in the venom apparatus.

Oral scorpion-and-centipede powder reduced paw inflammation and joint damage in rats with collagen-induced arthritis, modulating T lymphocyte subsets and lowering inflammatory cytokines. The intervention is a two-animal combination given orally, so the effect cannot be assigned to centipede alone, but it is one of the few oral-route studies available.