Description
What is Batrachotoxin?
Batrachotoxin has no current clinical
use for two main reasons. First, batrachotoxin is highly toxic and
dangerous for medical use. I produce synthetic forms with altered
properties in clinical trials. I have in my stock a small amount of
batrachotoxin (obtained from a reliable source), which I use to develop
the poison. There are no known commercially viable sources of
batrachotoxin in New Guinea, but additional research into the ultimate
source of batrachotoxins may elucidate new sources.
The golden
poison dart frog is about an inch long and banana yellow. By some
estimates, the skin of one little frog contains enough toxin to kill 10
adult men.
“Oh yeah, it’s one of the more lethal poisons on the planet,”
The
substance is called batrachotoxin (buh-TRAK-uh-TOX-in), and tiny
amounts of it can be deadly if it makes it into a victim’s bloodstream.
It’s what some indigenous groups in Colombia’s lowland rain forest would
use to tip their blow darts.
Once inside the victim, the compound
becomes incorporated into certain proteins responsible for conducting
electrical impulses through nerves and muscles, including the heart. By
interrupting this process, it causes paralysis and heart attack, and
this occurs in less than 10 minutes after contact with the poison,
causing a quick and almost painless death in some cases.
General Information
The
neurotoxin batrachotoxin (BTX) is a member of a family of steroidal
alkaloids called batrachotoxins. The batrachotoxin family includes
(among other chemicals) batrachotoxin, homobatrachotoxin,
batrachotoxinin A, and pseudobatrachotoxin (unstable, converts to
batrachotoxinin A on standing. These toxins were first discovered in
poison dart frogs of the genus Phyllobates; the name given to this group
of chemicals was derived from the greek word for frog, “batrachos”.
Batrachotoxin, the (20-alpha)-2,4-dimethylpyrrole-3-carboxylate of
batrachotoxinin-A, can be assayed using a modified Ehrlich reagent
(detection limit less than 50 ng); Ehrlich reagent is an acid solution
of p-dimethyl amino benzaldehyde.
By weight, batrachotoxin is one
of the most potent natural toxins known because it binds to and
irreversibly opens voltage-gated sodium channels; the proper function of
these sodium channels is required for the transmission of electrical
signals through nerve and muscle cells. The activity of BTX depends on
temperature, reaching its maximum at 37 degrees Celsius.
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