Podophyllotoxin (PPT) is the active ingredient in Podofilox, a medical cream used to treat genital warts and molluscum contagiosum.

[4][5] Podophyllotoxin was first isolated in pure form in 1880 by Valerian Podwyssotzki (1818 – 28 January 1892), a Polish-Russian privatdozent at the University of Dorpat (now Tartu, Estonia) and assistant at the Pharmacological Institute there.

[9] Podophyllotoxin possesses a large number of medical applications, as it inhibits replication of both cellular and viral DNA by binding necessary enzymes.

It has been employed in the treatment of a wide range of medical conditions, from infections to cancer, although modern medicine typically relies on less orally toxic derivatives when antimitotic effects are desired.

[13] The most common side effects of podophyllotoxin cream are typically limited to irritation of tissue surrounding the application site, usually burning, redness, pain, itching, and swelling.

[15] Neither podophyllin resin nor podophyllotoxin lotions or gels are used during pregnancy because these medications have been shown to be embryotoxic in both mice and rats.

[16] Additionally, it has not been determined if podophyllotoxin can pass into breast milk from topical applications and therefore it is not recommended for breastfeeding women.

[22][23] The mutually exclusive cross-resistance patterns of these mutants provide a highly specific means to distinguish the two kinds of podophyllotoxin derivatives.

[31] Several prior studies have suggested a common pathway starting from coniferyl alcohol being converted to (+)-pinoresinol in the presence of a one-electron oxidant [10] through dimerization of stereospecific radical intermediate.

[31] Though not proceeding through the last step of producing podophyllotoxin itself, a combination of six genes from the mayapple enabled production of the etoposide aglycone in tobacco plants.

[31] Podophyllotoxin has been successfully synthesized in a laboratory; however, synthesis mechanisms require many steps, resulting in a low overall yield.