Bufotoxins are a family of toxic substances found in the parotoid gland

Parotoid gland

The parotoid gland is an external skin gland on the back, neck, and shoulder of toads and some frogs and salamanders. It secretes a milky alkaloid substance to deter predators...

s, skin and venom of many toad

Toad

A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...

s (genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Bufo

Bufo

Bufo is a large genus of about 150 species of true toads in the amphibian family Bufonidae. Bufo is a Latin word for toad.- Description :...

); other amphibians; and some plants and mushrooms. The exact composition varies greatly with the specific source of the toxin. It can contain: 5-MeO-DMT

5-MeO-DMT

5-MeO-DMT is a powerful psychedelic tryptamine. It is found in a wide variety of plant and psychoactive toad species and, like its close relatives DMT and bufotenin , it has been used as an entheogen by South American shamans for thousands of years.-Chemistry:5-MeO-DMT was first synthesized in...

, bufagin

Bufagin

Bufagins are a class of toxic steroids found as components of bufotoxin. They can be obtained from toad's milk, which refers to secretions from the Cane Toad , when it is injured, scared or provoked....

s, bufotalin

Bufotalin

Bufotalin is a cardiotoxic bufanolide steroid secreted by the Common European toad and other related toads such as Bufo melanostictus....

, bufotenine, bufothionine

Bufothionine

Bufothionine is a sulfur-containing compound which is present in the bufotoxins secreted by the parotoid gland of certain toads of the genera Bufo and Chaunus. This specific compound can be found in the skin of certain species of toad such as the Asiatic Toad, Chaunus arunco, Chaunus crucifer,...

, epinephrine

Epinephrine

Epinephrine is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. It increases heart rate, constricts blood vessels, dilates air passages and participates in the fight-or-flight response of the sympathetic nervous system. In chemical terms, adrenaline is one of a group of monoamines called the catecholamines...

, norepinephrine

Norepinephrine

Norepinephrine is the US name for noradrenaline , a catecholamine with multiple roles including as a hormone and a neurotransmitter...

, and serotonin

Serotonin

Serotonin or 5-hydroxytryptamine is a monoamine neurotransmitter. Biochemically derived from tryptophan, serotonin is primarily found in the gastrointestinal tract, platelets, and in the central nervous system of animals including humans...

. The term bufotoxin can also be used specifically to describe the conjugate of a bufagin with suberylargine.

The toxic substances found in toads can be divided by chemical structure in two groups:

• bufadienolids which are steroidal gylcosides (e.g. bufotaline, bufogenine)
• tryptamine related substances (e.g. bufotenine)

Extract from the skin of certain Asian toads, such as Bufo gargarizans, is often found in certain Chinese folk remedies.

Toads known to secrete bufotoxin are:

• Bufo alvarius
  Colorado River Toad
  The Colorado River toad, Bufo alvarius, also known as the Sonoran Desert toad, is a psychoactive toad found in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States...
  
  
• Bufo americanus
• Bufo arenarum
• Bufo asper
  Bufo asper
  The Asian Giant Toad , sometimes referred to as the River Toad, is a large toad native to southeast Asia.- Description :Bufo asper is generally a dark grey, green, black or brown in color, and is heavily covered in tubercles...
  
  
• Bufo blombergi
• Bufo bufo
• Bufo bufo gargarizans
  Asiatic toad
  The Asiatic toad, or Bufo gargarizans, is a species of toad endemic to East Asia. It is common in China and portions of the Russian Far East The Asiatic toad, or Bufo gargarizans, is a species of toad endemic to East Asia. It is common in China (specifically Anhui, Fujian, Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei,...
  
  
• Bufo formosus
• Bufo fowleri
  Bufo fowleri
  Fowler's Toad is a species of toad in the Bufonidae family found in North America. It was previously considered a subspecies of Woodhouse's Toad.-Physical Description:...
  
  
• Bufo marinus
  Cane Toad
  The Cane Toad , also known as the Giant Neotropical Toad or Marine Toad, is a large, terrestrial true toad which is native to Central and South America, but has been introduced to various islands throughout Oceania and the Caribbean...
  
  
• Bufo melanostictus
  Bufo melanostictus
  The Common Indian Toad or Common Asiatic/Asian Toad or Black-spined Toad Duttaphrynus melanostictus is a species of toad that is common in South Asia. The species grows to almost 20 cm long. The species breeds during the monsoons and the tadpoles are black...
  
  
• Bufo peltocephalus
  Bufo peltocephalus
  Bufo peltocephalus is a species of toad in the Bufonidae family.It is endemic to Cuba.Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical seasonally wet or flooded lowland grassland, rivers, swamps, freshwater marshes, intermittent...
  
  
• Bufo quercicus
• Bufo regularis
• Bufo valliceps
  Bufo valliceps
  The Gulf Coast Toad is a species of toad native to the southern United States , Mexico, and Central America as far south as Costa Rica.- Description :...
  
  
• Bufo viridis
• Bufo vulgaris