Arrow frog. Credit line: – / Ardea / Profimedia
Epibatidine, the dart frog toxin that British authorities say was used to kill Russian opposition leader Aleksei Navalny, is about 100 times stronger than morphine, The Guardian reports.
This highly toxic, nicotine-like substance was first obtained from the Epipedobates genus of poison dart frogs native to northern South America, which are not found naturally in Russia.
Frogs that secrete the toxin on their skin include the brightly colored Anthony poison dart frog and the Phantasmal poison dart frog.
Researchers believe the frogs acquire it through their diet because animals in different habitats have shown different levels of the toxin, and those raised in captivity have none.
Epibatidine has been studied as an analgesic and for the relief of painful inflammatory lung conditions such as asthma and pulmonary fibrosis.
However, due to its toxicity, it is not used medically.
How it works
Epibatidine works to inhibit nerve activity by blocking nicotinic receptors in the central and peripheral nervous system, explained Alastair Hay, emeritus professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds.
“The effect of blocking these receptors is muscle paralysis and paralysis of the respiratory system. Thus, breathing is blocked and any poisoned person dies by suffocation,” he explained.
Hay said the presence of the toxin in a person's blood “suggests deliberate administration”.
“The toxicity of epibatidine can even be increased by the simultaneous administration of certain other drugs, and these combinations have been investigated”, explained the researcher.
If epibatidine was indeed used to poison Navalny, this constitutes a violation of the 1972 Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Epibatidine can be detected using a combination of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Gas chromatography helps separate compounds of interest, and mass spectrometry breaks down chemicals into fragments to create a unique fingerprint of the substance, which can then be identified.
What Aleksei Navalnyi was poisoned with
