Friday, February 17, 2012 at 12:43PM
Drew Wolfe

Oleandrin

"Oleandrin is a toxic cardiac glycoside found in oleander (Nerium oleander L.). Along with neandrin it is primarily responsible for the toxicity of the sap of oleander. Oleandrin has been used for many years in China and Russia for its properties as a cardiac glycoside, for both suicidal and therapeutic purposes as in treatment of cardiac insufficiency."

"The structure of oleandrin contains a central steroid nucleus with an unsaturated lactone ring structure on C17 and a dideoxy arabinose group on C3. In addition, the steroid ring has a substitute of a acetyloxy group on C16.[1] Oleandrin resembles very much other glycosides like ouabain and digoxin but has less effect than digoxin. It is however, just like its derivate oleandrigenin, a more potent glycoside than ouabain."

Article originally appeared on WorldWideWolfe II (http://drewhwolfe.com/).
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