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.