Cardiac glycoside specifically categorized based on the plant they are derived from, as in the following list. For example, cardenolides have been primarily derived from the foxglove plants "Digitalis purpurea" and "Digitalis lanata", while bufadienolides have been derived from the venom of the cane toad "Bufo marinus", from which they receive the “bufo” portion of their name. Below is a full list of plants from which cardiac glycosides can be derived. Cardiac glycosides affect the sodium-potassium ATPase pump in cardiac muscle cells to alter their function. Normally, these sodium-potassium pumps move potassium ions in and sodium ions out. Cardiac glycosides, however, inhibit
Drug discovery products have often been used as the starting point for drug discovery. Until the Renaissance, the vast majority of drugs in Western medicine were plant-derived extracts. This has resulted in a pool of information about the potential of plant species as important sources of starting materials for drug discovery. Botanical knowledge about different metabolites and hormones that are produced in different anatomical parts of the plant (e.g. roots, leaves, and flowers) are crucial for correctly identifying bioactive and pharmacological plant properties. Identifying new drugs and getting them approved for market has proved to be a stringent process due to regulations