Bufadienolide


Bufadienolide is a chemical compound with steroid structure. Its derivatives are collectively known as bufadienolides, including many in the form of bufadienolide glycosides. These are a type of cardiac glycoside, the other being the cardenolide glycosides. Both bufadienolides and their glycosides are toxic; specifically, they can cause an atrioventricular block, bradycardia, ventricular tachycardia, and possibly lethal cardiac arrest.

Etymology

The term derives from the toad genus Bufo that contains bufadienolide glycosides, the suffix -adien- that refers to the two double bonds in the lactone ring, and the ending -olide that denotes the lactone structure. Consequently, related structures with only one double bond are called bufenolides, and the Saturated and [unsaturated compounds|saturated] equivalent is bufanolide.

Classification

According to Medical [Subject Headings|MeSH], bufadienolides and bufanolides are classified as follows: