What is strophanthus used for?

What is strophanthus used for?

Strophanthus is an herb. It has been used as an arrow poison in Africa. Strophanthus seeds are used to make medicine. Despite serious safety concerns, people take strophanthus for diabetes, heart problems, and high blood pressure, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

How does ouabain affect the heart?

Increased intracellular concentrations of calcium may promote activation of contractile proteins (e.g., actin, myosin). Ouabain also acts on the electrical activity of the heart, increasing the slope of phase 4 depolarization, shortening the action potential duration, and decreasing the maximal diastolic potential.

How is ouabain useful in the treatment of congestive heart failure?

Ouabain prevents pathological cardiac hypertrophy and heart failure through activation of phosphoinositide 3-kinase α in mouse. Cell Biosci.

Why is ouabain a lethal poison?

The elevated intracellular Na+ reduces the activity of the Na+/Ca2+ exchanger (NCX), resulting in abnormal Ca2+ fluctuations which is associated with cardiac arrhythmias. Ouabain is a highly toxic compound (LD50 2.2 mg/kg, intravenously administration to mouse) and can cause symptoms such like vomiting and convulsion.

Is strophanthus safe?

Strophanthus is UNSAFE for use without the direct supervision of a healthcare provider. It can cause side effects such as nausea, vomiting, headache, disturbance of color vision, and heart problems.

Is strophanthus a cardiac glycoside?

Strophanthus, which is of the Apocynaceae family, is a flowering plant that grows in tropical Africa, South Africa, southern India, the Philippines, Laos, Vietnam, and South China. The plant contains toxic alkaloids and cardiac glycosides (e.g., g-strophanthin (ouabain), k-strophanthin, and e-strophanthin).

What happens when sodium potassium pump is blocked?

The sodium pump is by itself electrogenic, three Na+ out for every two K+ that it imports. So if you block all sodium pump activity in a cell, you would see an immediate change in the membrane potential because you remove a hyperpolarizing current, in other words, the membrane potential becomes less negative.

What are cardiac glycoside drugs?

Cardiac glycosides are medicines for treating heart failure and certain irregular heartbeats. They are one of several classes of drugs used to treat the heart and related conditions. These drugs are a common cause of poisoning.

How does strophanthus work?

Strophanthus is an herb. It has been used as an arrow poison in Africa. Strophanthus seeds are used to make medicine. Despite serious safety concerns, people take strophanthus for “hardening of the arteries” (arteriosclerosis), heart problems, and high blood pressure.

What is Kombe seed?

kombe contains a cardiac glycoside which directly affects the heart. Historically, both the seeds and roots of the plant were used in the preparation of poison arrowheads used for hunting. Today, the seeds are used pharmaceutically for patients with certain heart conditions that affect blood circulation.

Do cardiac glycosides increase heart rate?

Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase the output force of the heart and increase its rate of contractions by acting on the cellular sodium-potassium ATPase pump.

How is g-strophanthin used in the treatment of heart disease?

The regular, clinical use of oral g-strophathin (a cardiac glycoside derived from the West African plant strophanthus gratus): Prevents lethal myocardial tissue acidosis, and thereby Substantially reduces the incidence of myocardial infarction and completely prevents infarction deaths.

What is the active ingredient in Strophanthus seeds?

An African perennial vine called strophanthus makes seeds that contain the active ingredient referred to as g-strophanthin in Europe and ouabain in the US. Ouabain is a copy of a hormone made by our own adrenal cortex, and it has many functions that are useful in treating patients with heart disease.

How many people are taking g-strophanthin in Germany?

Currently, there are approximately 5000 M.D.s in Germany using and prescribing oral g-strophanthin.

Are there any side effects of taking Strophanthus?

Strophanthus can affect the heart. Quinine can also affect the heart. Taking quinine along with strophanthus might cause serious heart problems. Digoxin (Lanoxin) helps the heart beat more strongly.