Cardiac glycosides are drugs used in the treatment of congestive heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia. These glycosides are found as secondary metabolites in several plants, but also in some animals. Some of these compounds (ouabain and some frog poisons) are used in africa as arrow-poisons for hunting. A drug is any substance that can be used to modify a chemical process or processes in the body, for example to treat an illness, relieve a symptom, enhance a performance or ability, or to alter states of mind. ... Congestive heart failure (CHF) (also called congestive cardiac failure and heart failure) is the inability of the heart to pump a sufficient amount of blood throughout the body, or requiring elevated filling pressures in order to pump effectively. ... A cardiac arrhythmia, also called cardiac dysrhythmia, is a disturbance in the regular rhythm of the heartbeat. ... A glycoside is a molecule where a sugar group is bonded through its anomeric carbon to a nonsugar group by either an oxygen or a nitrogen atom. ... Secondary metabolites, also known as natural products, are those products (chemical compounds) of metabolism that are not essential for normal growth, development or reproduction of an organism. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Hepaticophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern...

Cardiac glycosides work by inhibiting the Na⁺/K⁺ pump. This inhibition increases the amount of Ca⁺⁺ ions available for contraction of the heart muscle, improves cardiac output and reduces distention of the heart. Na+/K+-ATPase (also known as the Na+/K+ pump or Na+/K+ exchanger) is an enzyme (EC 3. ... General Name, Symbol, Number calcium, Ca, 20 Chemical series alkaline earth metals Group, Period, Block 2, 4, s Appearance silvery white Atomic mass 40. ... An ion is an atom or group of atoms with a net electric charge. ... A top-down view of skeletal muscle Muscle is a contractile form of tissue. ...

They have an antiarrhythmic effect by prolonging the refractory period of the AV node (Atrioventricular node), reducing the number of impulses reaching the ventricles. Cardiac output is restored but atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter are not abolished. Antiarrhythmic agents are a group of pharmaceuticals that are used to suppress fast rhythms of the heart (cardiac arrhythmias), such as atrial fibrillation, atrial flutter, ventricular tachycardia, and ventricular fibrillation. ... The atrioventricular node (abbreviated AV node) is the tissue between the atria and the ventricles of the heart, which conducts the normal electrical impulse from the atria to the ventricles. ... In anatomy, a ventricle is a part of the body filled with fluid. ... Atrial fibrillation (AF or AFib) is a cardiac arrhythmia (an abnormality of heart rate or rhythm) originating in the atria. ...

Examples of plants producing cardiac glycosides:

• Strophanthus - ouabain g/k/e-strophanthin
• Digitalis lanata and Digitalis purpurea - digoxin, digitoxin
• Scilla maritima - proscillaridine A
• Adonis vernalis, Adonis aestivalis
• Ammi visnaga
• Crataegus (vitexin, rutin)
• Acokanthera oblongifolia
• Convallaria

Some frog-poison contain bufalin, marinobufagenin and bufadienolides, cardiac glycosides. Species See text Strophanthus is a genus of plants of the family Apocynaceae, deriving its, name from the long twisted threadlike segments of the corolla, which in one species attain a length of 12 or 14 inches. ... Ouabain is the familiar name of g-strophanthin, a poisonous cardiac glycoside. ... Species About 20 species, including: Digitalis ciliata Digitalis davisiana Digitalis dubia Digitalis ferruginea Digitalis grandiflora Digitalis laevigata Digitalis lanata Digitalis lutea Digitalis obscura Digitalis parviflora Digitalis purpurea Digitalis thapsi Digitalis viridiflora Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous biennials, perennials and shrubs that was traditionally placed in... Digoxin is a cardiac glycoside extracted from the foxglove plant, digitalis. ... Species Digitalis ferruginea Digitalis grandiflora Digitalis lanata Digitalis lutea Digitalis obscura Digitalis purpurea Digitalis is a genus of about 20 species of herbaceous biennials, perennials and shrubs in the foxglove family Scrophulariaceae. ... Species See text Scilla (squill) is a genus of bulbous perennial herbs in the hyacinth family Hyacinthaceae. ...