Between 19, Daly and Myers collected the skins of nearly 3000 frogs from various sites in Ecuador, after finding that a small injection of a preparation from their skin caused analgesic (painkilling) effects in mice that resembled those of an opioid. It was isolated from the skin of Epipedobates anthonyi frogs collected by Daly and colleague, Charles Myers. History Įpibatidine was discovered by John W. However, because of its unacceptable therapeutic index, it is no longer being researched for potential therapeutic uses.

Originally, it was thought that epibatidine could be useful as a drug. Doses are lethal when the paralysis causes respiratory arrest. Epibatidine then causes numbness, and, eventually, paralysis. These receptors are involved in the transmission of painful sensations, and in movement, among other functions. Its toxicity stems from its ability to interact with nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Samples from other batches of the same species of frog failed to yield epibatidine. By the time that high-resolution spectrometry was used in 1991, there remained less than one milligram of extract from Daly's samples, raising concerns about possible contamination. Whether epibatidine is the first observed example of a chlorinated alkaloid remains controversial, due to challenges in conclusively identifying the compound from the limited samples collected by Daly. Daly in 1974, but its structure was not fully elucidated until 1992. Epibatidine is a chlorinated alkaloid that is secreted by the Ecuadoran frog Epipedobates anthonyi and poison dart frogs from the Ameerega genus.

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