In 1859, the cardiac effects of Strophanthus seeds were discovered when, during Livingstone's expedition in Africa, the biologist Kirk 's toothbrush came into contact with the Strophanthus arrow poison without him noticing and his heart problems disappeared immediately afterwards. In 1862, the Scottish pharmacologist and clinician Thomas Fraser succeeded in isolating k-strophanthin from the seeds of Strophanthus kombé . In 1885, the total extract of S. kombé was introduced into cardiac therapy as Tinctura strophanthia and included in the German Pharmacopoeia in 1893. In 1888, the French chemist Arnaud isolated g-strophanthin from Strophanthus gratus and Acokanthera ouabaio , which was available as a pure substance for oral administration from 1904.
The therapeutic development and the proof of the rapid and strong effect of intravenously administered k-strophanthin goes back to the German doctor Albert Fraenkel, who used it for heart failure from 1905 onwards.
Strophanthin works by deacidifying the heart muscle tissue, supporting the heart muscle and normalizing its disturbed metabolism.In 1859, the cardiac effects of Strophanthus seeds were discovered when, during Livingstone's expedition in Africa, the biologist Kirk 's toothbrush came into contact with the Strophanthus arrow poison without him noticing and his heart problems disappeared immediately afterwards. In 1862, the Scottish pharmacologist and clinician Thomas Fraser succeeded in isolating k-strophanthin from the seeds of Strophanthus kombé . In 1885, the total extract of S. kombé was introduced into cardiac therapy as Tinctura strophanthia and included in the German Pharmacopoeia in 1893. In 1888, the French chemist Arnaud isolated g-strophanthin from Strophanthus gratus and Acokanthera ouabaio , which was available as a pure substance for oral administration from 1904.
The therapeutic development and the proof of the rapid and strong effect of intravenously administered k-strophanthin goes back to the German doctor Albert Fraenkel, who used it for heart failure from 1905 onwards.
Ouabain , the Anglo-Saxon term for g-strophanthin, takes its name from the African ouabaio tree ( Acokanthera ouabaio ), whose seeds contain the g-strophanthin. Ouabaio is the English spelling of the East African word wabayo . Although strophanthin has a moderately positive inotropic (strength-enhancing) effect, the attributed positive effects in the prevention and acute treatment of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction were only demonstrated in older studies from the 1950s to the 1980s,<31> the majority of which did not meet today's quality requirements for clinical studies.
