Batrachotoxin (BTX) is an extremely potent cardio- and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloid found in certain species of beetles, birds, and frogs. (wikipedia.org)
Batrachotoxin was discovered by Fritz Märki and Bernhard Witkop, at the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, U.S.A. Märki and Witkop separated the potent toxic alkaloids fraction from Phyllobates bicolor and determined its chemical properties in 1963. (wikipedia.org)
They isolated four major toxic steroidal alkaloids including batrachotoxin, isobatrachotoxin, pseudobatrachotoxin, and batrachotoxinin A. Due to the difficulty of handling such a potent toxin and the minuscule amount that could be collected, a comprehensive structure determination involved several difficulties. (wikipedia.org)
According to experiments with rodents, batrachotoxin is one of the most potent alkaloids known: its intravenous LD50 in mice is 2-3 µg/kg. (wikipedia.org)
The color pattern of D. silverstonei is a convergent autapomorphy showing only the most superficial resemblance to that of P. bicolor, and silverstonei lacks the potent batrachotoxin alkaloids of Phyllobates. (amnh.org)
Most people are familiar with South and Central America's iconic poison dart frogs, especially the golden poison frog (Phyllobates terribilis), that carry the potent neurotoxic alkaloid batrachotoxin. (focusingonwildlife.com)
Among the more than 800 alkaloids isolated from skins of arrow poison-frog, batrachotoxin had attracted the most widespread attention of scientists from several fields, due to its potent cardio and nerve toxicities and challenging structure. (sioc-journal.cn)
Batrachotoxin is the most potent non-peptide based poison known to man. (shopinstrument.com)
It is a highly potent cardiotoxic and neurotoxic steroidal alkaloid. (shopinstrument.com)
Even though poison dart frogs are pretty to look at, they are covered in a potent alkaloid toxin. (littlepetcorner.com)
BTX is a steroidal alkaloid and one of the most potent known natural toxins - it takes just 0.1mg to kill an average adult human. (chemistryworld.com)
Phyllobates1
The golden dart frog Phyllobates terribilis contains enough batrachotoxin to kill 10 people. (stackexchange.com)
Toxic alkaloids2
A less well-known and fascinating example is the colorful bella or rattlebox moth, whose larvae feed on poisonous seeds of a legume, storing the toxic alkaloids in their bodies. (juneauempire.com)
Poison dart frog toxin is called Batrachotoxin or BTX, and it works by causing paralysis when it enters the bloodstream. (littlepetcorner.com)
It has enough of a very special kind of toxin in its skin, batrachotoxin, that the toxin from a single individual could potentially to kill upwards of 20,000 mice or up to 10 humans 2 . (understoryenterprises.com)
Frogs5
In certain frogs, this alkaloid is present mostly on the skin. (wikipedia.org)
(−)-Batrachotoxin is a highly toxic alkaloid first found on poison-dart frogs in South America. (chemistryviews.org)
these frogs produce deadly alkaloid batrachotoxins in their skin glands as a defense against predators. (tonyajoy.com)
Scientists believe that the source of the poison dart frogs toxins comes from their diet of alkaloid-containing insects. (littlepetcorner.com)
This is bolstered by frog enthusiasts successfully keeping poison dart frogs as pets, and because they don't have access to their natural alkaloid-containing insect diet, they are not poisonous. (littlepetcorner.com)
Sodium channels3
Batrachotoxin binds to and irreversibly opens the sodium channels of nerve cells and prevents them from closing, resulting in paralysis and death. (wikipedia.org)
Batrachotoxin irreversibly binds to the Na+ channels which causes a conformational change in the channels that forces the sodium channels to remain open. (wikipedia.org)
Batrachotoxin not only keeps voltage-gated sodium channels open but also reduces single-channel conductance. (wikipedia.org)
Skin2
Skin secretions contain small amounts of alkaloids, mainly of the pumiliotoxin-A class. (amnh.org)
When the mass spectrum and NMR spectrum of batrachotoxin and the batrachotoxinin A derivatives were compared, it was realized that the two shared the same steroidal structure and that batrachotoxin was batrachotoxinin A with a single extra pyrrole moiety attached. (wikipedia.org)