Dragon's Blood: Wound Healing and Insect Bites

Table of Contents

1. The Traditional Skin Uses
2. What the Reviews Say
3. What the Clinical Reports Amount To
4. Taspine and the Wound-Healing Hypothesis
5. Inflammation and Immune Findings
6. Antioxidant and Vascular Findings in the Lab
7. Dragon's Blood in Modern Dressings and Cosmetics
8. The Pressure-Ulcer Meta-Analysis Is About a Different Resin
9. What Is Missing
10. Key Research Papers
11. Connections

The Traditional Skin Uses

Several independent laboratory groups describe the same folk uses in the introductions to their papers:

• A 2012 Italian study: used externally "for wounds, fractures, and haemorrhoids", and internally for intestinal and stomach ulcers.
• A 2004 Brazilian study: used in folk medicine as a cicatrizant and an anti-inflammatory, and to treat cancer.
• A 2002 American survey: the latex is the source of the wound-healing remedy "sangre de grado".
• A 2003 review in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, whose title lists the uses: diarrhoea, inflammation, insect bites, viral infections and wounds.

The same latex is used both as a skin remedy and as an internal one. The skin use is the one with the longest documented tradition and the one this article focuses on.

What the Reviews Say

Three reviews in our citation pack sum up the evidence, and they differ in tone.

2003: broadly positive

The 2003 review, written by an author at a private research firm, concluded that in vitro and in vivo studies "largely support" the majority of the traditional uses, including wounds, herpes infection, and the itching, pain and swelling of insect bites. It reported that clinical studies of sap products had found positive results for the symptoms of insect bites, and that preparations used in clinical studies were well tolerated. It also flagged a practical problem: the sap's chemistry differs from one area to another, so any clinical material would need to be standardised.

2019: cautious

A dermatology review from a US medical school, published in Dermatologic Therapy, searched PubMed for "Dragon's Blood" and "Croton lechleri". It found preclinical evidence of anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antifungal and anti-tumour activity, and clinical studies that "reflect" wound-healing and antiviral properties. Its conclusion was restrained: C. lechleri "offers limited use in dermatology" and further investigation is needed.

2025: laboratory-focused

A 2025 review in Planta Medica examined 33 articles from the previous two decades. It listed wound-healing activity first among the plant's reported properties, along with anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and gastrointestinal effects, and associated these effects particularly with the resin. Its summary describes these as potential effects that support further investigation, not as established treatments.

What the Clinical Reports Amount To

The reviews mention clinical studies, but their summaries do not describe a large, independent, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of the crude latex for wounds or insect bites, and our citation pack contains no such trial. That leaves several questions without published answers:

• How much faster, if at all, does a cut or graze heal with the sap than with a simple clean dressing?
• How much of any benefit comes from a physical film over the wound, the astringent tannins, or a specific compound?
• Does relief from itching after an insect bite exceed what a placebo cream produces?
• How often does the sap irritate the skin or trigger an allergic reaction?

For readers, this means the topical use is supported by tradition, laboratory biology and positive but limited clinical reports, not by the kind of trial that established crofelemer for diarrhoea.

Taspine and the Wound-Healing Hypothesis

Which compound in the latex might help wounds? The leading early candidate was taspine, an alkaloid. A 2002 paper in the Journal of Natural Products, surveying latex from 22 sites in northern Peru and Ecuador, stated that taspine had previously been found responsible for the latex's wound-healing activity, and measured it at an average of 9% of the latex by dry weight. Taspine was the only alkaloid present in the latex.

Later work complicated that picture. A 2003 study from the University of Barcelona compared the whole latex with isolated taspine and concluded that taspine "cannot be considered the main responsible" for the latex's immune and anti-inflammatory activities, and that other constituents, probably the proanthocyanidins, are also involved.

Taspine also has a less welcome property: it is toxic to cells. In a 2012 study it inhibited the growth of human melanoma and colon cancer cells at 0.1 µg/mL, and an isolated taspine sample from another plant inhibited blood-vessel growth in chick embryos (see Taspine, Toxicity and Safety Unknowns). Wound healing depends on cells multiplying and on new blood vessels forming. A compound that suppresses both in laboratory tests is a puzzling candidate for a healing agent, and the published abstracts in our pack do not resolve this.

Inflammation and Immune Findings

The 2003 Barcelona study, published in Planta Medica, is the most detailed look at how the latex affects the immune system. Its findings:

• Complement. The latex potently inhibited both the classical and alternative pathways of the complement system in human serum. Complement is a cascade of blood proteins that drives inflammation and attacks microbes.
• T-cells. It inhibited the proliferation of activated T-cells in tests on mouse lymphocytes.
• Free radicals. It scavenged free radicals in a chemical test.
• White blood cells. Depending on concentration, it acted as an antioxidant or a pro-oxidant in human white blood cells, and either stimulated or inhibited their ability to engulf particles (phagocytosis).
• Swelling in rats. Injected into the abdomen of rats, it had strong anti-inflammatory activity in the standard paw-swelling (carrageenan oedema) test.

Two points limit how far this goes. The anti-inflammatory animal result came from injection, not from application to the skin. And the concentration-dependent switch between antioxidant and pro-oxidant behaviour means "more" is not necessarily "better" in this biology.

Antioxidant and Vascular Findings in the Lab

Other laboratory studies add to the picture of a chemically active material:

• A 2022 study in Natural Product Research found that the sap inhibited the glycation of albumin (the sugar damage that forms advanced glycation end-products), lengthened the lag phase before LDL particles oxidised by almost 60% at 0.8 µg/mL, and at 1.0 and 10.0 µg/mL reduced reactive oxygen species in human umbilical-vein cells in culture.
• A 2004 Brazilian study found significant antioxidant activity of the sap in yeast exposed to the oxidising agent apomorphine, and protection of maize seedlings from the same agent. The same study found the sap mutagenic in bacterial and yeast tests.
• A 2009 study from Padua found that the sap constricted isolated rat tail arteries in a concentration-dependent way, by a mechanism that did not involve any of the receptor or calcium-channel pathways tested. The study did not examine bleeding or wounds.

Taken together, these show a latex that interacts with many biological systems at low concentrations in the laboratory. None of the findings measured wound healing in a person.

Dragon's Blood in Modern Dressings and Cosmetics

Dragon's blood has also moved into cosmetic chemistry and wound-dressing research. In both settings the species is often unclear.

• Nanofibre dressings. A 2024 study made polyvinyl-alcohol and chitosan nanofibres loaded with "Dragon's blood", described as a natural material used in cosmetics. The fibres released about 78% of their load over 72 hours, inhibited E. coli, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus subtilis in the lab, were compatible with mouse fibroblast cells, and in a wound model, examined under the microscope, improved the formation of new skin, collagen deposition and the presence of fibroblasts. The abstract does not name the plant species.
• Cosmetics. A 2020 review of ingredients in Korean skincare products listed dragon's blood among plant-derived actives with potential uses in skin rejuvenation, photoprotection and wound healing, and called for further research into their mechanisms. Again, the abstract does not name the species.

A cream labelled "dragon's blood" may therefore contain a Croton latex, a Dracaena resin or something else, and research on one does not automatically apply to the others. See Four Plants, One Name.

The Pressure-Ulcer Meta-Analysis Is About a Different Resin

A search for "dragon's blood wound healing" quickly turns up a 2015 systematic review and meta-analysis in Wound Repair and Regeneration. Its findings are striking:

• 14 randomised controlled trials, 618 patients with pressure ulcers (bedsores).
• Treatment was associated with a higher healing rate than other topical treatments (risk ratio 2.07, 95% confidence interval 1.73 to 2.48).
• Healing time was shorter, and no adverse reactions were reported.
• The authors cautioned that the limited quality and quantity of the trials meant the conclusion needed confirmation by higher-quality studies.

The treatment studied was Resina Draconis, the dragon's blood of Chinese medicine; the review came from a nursing school in Wuhan and pooled trials comparing it with other topical treatments. Its abstract does not name a species, but the Chinese resin comes from different plants from the Amazonian latex: a 2024 animal study describes "Chinese dragon's blood" as the red resin of Dracaena cochinchinensis, and a 2019 analytical paper notes that a current pharmacopoeia names the palm Daemonorops draco as the only authentic source. The meta-analysis is therefore evidence about a different plant product, and it cannot be applied to Croton lechleri.

What Is Missing

• A modern controlled trial of the crude Croton lechleri latex on ordinary cuts, grazes or insect bites, compared with placebo or a standard dressing.
• Skin-safety data: how often it irritates or sensitises the skin, and what happens on large or deep wounds.
• Absorption data: whether taspine crosses broken skin, and in what amount.
• Standardised material: the latex varies by region and chemotype, so two bottles may not be equivalent.
• Separation of species in cosmetic and dressing research, so that findings can be attributed to the right plant.

Wounds that are deep, infected, slow to heal or in someone with diabetes or poor circulation fall outside what any of this research addresses, and they are assessed by a clinician.

Key Research Papers

1. Jones K. Review of sangre de drago (Croton lechleri)--a South American tree sap in the treatment of diarrhea, inflammation, insect bites, viral infections, and wounds: traditional uses to clinical research. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, N.Y.). 2003;9(6):877-96. PubMed PMID: 14736360
2. Pona A, Cline A, Kolli SS, et al. Review of future insights of Dragon's Blood in dermatology. Dermatologic therapy. 2019;32(2):e12786. PubMed PMID: 30556246
3. de Albuquerque RDDG, León-Vargas FR, Carrasco-Montañez DD, et al. A Review on Phytochemistry and Recent Pharmacology of Dragon's Blood (Croton lechleri), a Multifunctional Ethnomedicinal Resource from the Amazon Forest. Planta medica. 2025;91(8):409-418. PubMed PMID: 40043740
4. Milanowski DJ, Winter RE, Elvin-Lewis MP, et al. Geographic distribution of three alkaloid chemotypes of Croton lechleri. Journal of natural products. 2002;65(6):814-9. PubMed PMID: 12088421
5. Risco E, Ghia F, Vila R, et al. Immunomodulatory activity and chemical characterisation of sangre de drago (dragon's blood) from Croton lechleri. Planta medica. 2003;69(9):785-94. PubMed PMID: 14598201
6. Montopoli M, Bertin R, Chen Z, et al. Croton lechleri sap and isolated alkaloid taspine exhibit inhibition against human melanoma SK23 and colon cancer HT29 cell lines. Journal of ethnopharmacology. 2012;144(3):747-53. PubMed PMID: 23123266
7. Lopes MI, Saffi J, Echeverrigaray S, et al. Mutagenic and antioxidant activities of Croton lechleri sap in biological systems. Journal of ethnopharmacology. 2004;95(2-3):437-45. PubMed PMID: 15507372
8. Chen Z, Bertin R, Marin R, et al. Effects of Croton lechleri sap (Sangre de Drago) on AGEs formation, LDL oxidation and oxidative stress related to vascular diseases. Natural product research. 2022;36(16):4165-4169. PubMed PMID: 34338088
9. Froldi G, Zagotto G, Filippini R, et al. Activity of sap from Croton lechleri on rat vascular and gastric smooth muscles. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology. 2009;16(8):768-75. PubMed PMID: 19406630
10. Mahboubi Kancha M, Mehrabi M, Aghaie F, et al. Preparation and characterization of PVA/chitosan nanofibers loaded with Dragon's blood or poly helixan as wound dressings. International journal of biological macromolecules. 2024;272(Pt 2):132844. PubMed PMID: 38834119
11. Nguyen JK, Masub N, Jagdeo J. Bioactive ingredients in Korean cosmeceuticals: Trends and research evidence. Journal of cosmetic dermatology. 2020;19(7):1555-1569. PubMed PMID: 32100931
12. Xu J, Xiong T, Yang Y, et al. Resina Draconis as a topical treatment for pressure ulcers: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Wound repair and regeneration : official publication of the Wound Healing Society [and] the European Tissue Repair Society. 2015;23(4):565-74. PubMed PMID: 25968301
13. Yang PX, Fan XX, Liu MX, et al. Longxuetongluo Capsule alleviate ischemia/reperfusion induced cardiomyocyte apoptosis through modulating oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. Phytomedicine : international journal of phytotherapy and phytopharmacology. 2024;134:155993. PubMed PMID: 39244943
14. Wu C, Cai XQ, Chang Y, et al. Rapid identification of dragon blood samples from Daemonorops draco, Dracaena cinnabari and Dracaena cochinchinensis by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Phytochemical analysis : PCA. 2019;30(6):720-726. PubMed PMID: 31313432

PubMed Topic Searches

1. PubMed: Croton lechleri wound healing
2. PubMed: Sangre de grado and insect bites
3. PubMed: Croton lechleri anti-inflammatory activity
4. PubMed: Resina Draconis and wounds (Chinese dragon's blood)

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Connections

• All Herbs
• Dragon's Blood (Croton lechleri) — the main topic page
• Dragon's Blood: Benefits Deep Dive — the evidence ledger
• Crofelemer: From Sap to Licensed Drug — the approved drug
• Four Plants, One Name — Croton, Dracaena and the palm
• Taspine, Toxicity and Safety Unknowns — the alkaloid in detail
• Wound Healing — remedies and evidence for wound care
• How Wounds Heal — an animation of the healing process
• Plantain: Wound Care, Stings and Skin — another bite and sting remedy
• Honey: Topical Wound Healing — a wound remedy with trial data
• Aloe Vera — another plant gel used on skin
• Calendula — a wound and skin herb
• Yarrow — a traditional wound herb
• Dermatology — skin conditions on this site

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