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Bufagin
Bufagin is a toxic steroid C24H34O5 obtained from toad's milk, the poisonous secretion of a skin gland on the back of the neck of a large toad (''Rhinella marina'', synonym ''Bufo marinus'', the cane toad). The toad produces this secretion when it is injured, scared or provoked. Bufagin resembles chemical substances from digitalis in physiological activity and chemical structure. ''Bufagin'' also refers to any of several similar substances found as components of the mixture bufotoxin in secretions of other toads, as well as plants and mushrooms. History The discovery of bufagin has taken place in the fall of 1910, where John Jacob Abel and David I. Macht are investigating the property of unknown substances from a tropical toad, ''Bufo agua''. They collected the "milky secretion" squirted out of toad’s parotid gland due to the control of the central nervous system while it was strongly irritated. They observed the semifluid substance is quickly dried in the air and formed a yellow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arenobufagin
Arenobufagin is a cardiotoxic bufanolide steroid secreted by the Argentine toad ''Bufo arenarum''. It has effects similar to digitalis, blocking the Na+/K+ pump in heart tissue. Sources The compound arenobufagin is one of the major components of certain toad toxins. It is derived from the dried skin of giant toads, such as ''Bufo gargarizans'' and ''Bufo melanostictus Suhneider''. Arenobufagin is specifically secreted by ''Rhinella arenarum'', which is found in South America. The toxin of these toad species contains about 1.75% of arenobufagin. The other major part of the venom consists mostly of similar looking bufagins, which are all toxic steroids. Toads produce their toxin when they are scared, injured, or provoked, as a defense mechanism against being eaten by their predators. History Arenobufagin is a component of a certain toad toxin which goes by the name of Chan’su. For centuries, this toxin has been used in Chinese traditional medicine in the treatment of liver cance ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cinobufagin
Cinobufagin is a cardiotoxic bufanolide steroid secreted by the Asiatic toad ''Bufo gargarizans''. It has similar effects to digitalis and is used in traditional Chinese medicine. Isolation and purification Cinobufagin, as well as other bufadienolides, can be isolated from the traditional Chinese medicine called ChanSu. ChanSu is made from a multitude of chemicals present in Bufo gargarizans secretions. Resibufogenin can be eluted out with silica gel column chromatography, using a 5:1 ratio of cyclohexane to acetone for the solvent in the mobile phase. Subsequently, cinobufagin and bufalin can be separated and purified using an HPLC column with a 72:28 methanol to water solvent. Yang et al. confirmed this method of isolation for cinobufagin with Proton NMR. Clinical significance Cinobufagin has been shown to have clinical applications in cancer treatment as well as immunomodulatory and analgesic properties. In human adrenocortical cells, cinobufagin inhibits the secretion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bufotoxin
Bufotoxins are a family of toxic steroid lactones or substituted Substituted tryptamine, tryptamines of which some are toxic. They occur in the parotoid glands, skin, and poison of many toads (True toad, Bufonidae family) and other amphibians, and in some plants and mushrooms. The exact composition varies greatly with the specific source of the toxin. Composition Bufotoxins can contain 5-MeO-DMT, bufagins, bufalin, bufotalin, bufotenin, bufothionine, dehydrobufotenine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. Some authors have also used the term ''bufotoxin'' to describe the conjugate of a bufagin with suberylarginine. The toxic substances found in toads can be divided by chemical structure in two groups: #bufadienolides, which are cardiac glycosides (e.g., bufotalin, bufogenin), are compounds that may be fatal if consumed. #tryptamine-related substances (e.g., bufotenin), are sought after for entheogenic and/or recreational drug, recreational purposes by some individuals. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marinobufagin
Marinobufagenin (marinobufagin, MBG) is a cardiotonic bufadienolide steroid. It is secreted by the toad species such as ''Bufo marinus''. It also can be found in the plasma and urine of human subjects with myocardial infarction, kidney failure, heart failure, and preeclampsia. MBG is a vasoconstrictor Vasoconstriction is the narrowing of the blood vessels resulting from contraction of the muscular wall of the vessels, in particular the large arteries and small arterioles. The process is the opposite of vasodilation, the widening of blood vesse ... and a sodium–potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na/K-ATPase) inhibitor with a high affinity for the alpha-1 isoform of the enzyme, the main isoform in the vascular wall and the kidney. It is produced by adrenal cortex and placenta via CYP27a1 pathway. MBG regulates the monovalent ions balance and cell homeostasis, and by binding to the Na/K-ATPase, it affects cell growth and differentiation, apoptosis, and proliferation. A novel ef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Steroid
A steroid is an organic compound with four fused compound, fused rings (designated A, B, C, and D) arranged in a specific molecular configuration. Steroids have two principal biological functions: as important components of cell membranes that alter membrane fluidity; and as signal transduction, signaling molecules. Examples include the lipid cholesterol, sex hormones estradiol and testosterone, anabolic steroids, and the anti-inflammatory corticosteroid drug dexamethasone. Hundreds of steroids are found in Fungus, fungi, plants, and animals. All steroids are manufactured in cells from a sterols, sterol: Cholesterol, cholesterol (animals), lanosterol (opisthokonts), or cycloartenol (plants). All three of these molecules are produced via Cyclic compound, cyclization of the triterpene squalene. Structure The steroid nucleus (parent structure, core structure) is called gonane (cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene). It is typically composed of seventeen carbon atoms, bonded in fou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cane Toad
The cane toad (''Rhinella marina''), also known as the giant neotropical toad or marine toad, is a large, Terrestrial animal, terrestrial true toad native to South America, South and mainland Central America, but which has been Introduced species, introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean, as well as Northern Australia. It is a member of the genus ''Rhinella'', which includes many true toad species found throughout Central and South America, but it was formerly assigned to the genus ''Bufo''. A fossil toad (specimen UCMP 41159) from the La Venta (Colombia), La Venta fauna of the late Miocene in Colombia is morphologically indistinguishable from modern cane toads from northern South America. It was discovered in a floodplain deposit, which suggests the ''R. marina'' habitat preferences have long been for open areas. The cane toad is a prolific breeder; females lay single-clump spawn (biology), spawns with thousands of egg (biology), eggs. Its reproducti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gulf Coast Toad
The Gulf Coast toad (''Incilius valliceps'') is a species of toad native to eastern and southeastern Mexico and Central America as far south as Costa Rica. Description The Gulf Coast toad is a medium-sized toad species, ranging from in length. Their back varies in color from nearly black, to shades of brown and grey with a distinctive white or yellowish colored stripe down the center, and sometimes lighter colored patches on the sides. Their underside is yellow or cream colored. Their back is covered in small Tubercle (anatomy), tubercles, while their underside is normally devoid of them. ''I. valliceps'' has the most extensive ridging of any toad in its geographic range. The ridges extend from the nose, to the back of the head, and with a branch that wraps around the back side of the eye. Habitat The Gulf Coast toad is found in a wide range of habitats, including open grassland, semi-arid regions, light forest, and even suburban backyards. They are typically found not fa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Square-marked Toad
''Sclerophrys regularis'', commonly known as the African common toad, square-marked toad, African toad, Egyptian toad, African bouncing toad (due to the bouncing motion) and Reuss's toad, is a species of toad in the family Bufonidae. It is found widely in the Subsaharan Africa, with its range extending to the oases in Algeria and Libya as well as to northern Nilotic Egypt. Specifically, it is found in Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and Uganda. Description The African common toad is a large sturdy toad with a warty skin. Males grow to a snout-to-vent length of and females reach . The paratoid glands are large and either parallel or kidney-shaped and the male has a single vocal sac under the chin. The dorsal surface is dark olive-brow ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
