ATELOPIDTOXIN FROM PANAMANIAN FROG, ATELOPUS-ZETEKI

A water soluble, dialyzable toxin from the skin of the Panamanian frog, Atelopus zeteki, has been partially purified by a combination of dialysis, gel filtration, cellulose column chromatography and precipitation from water with acetone. This toxin, designated atelopidtoxin, at its present state of purity has a ld50 (i.p., mice) of about 0·016 mg per kg, and thus has a toxicity which is only slightly less than the most lethal non-protein toxins known. When injected into mammals it produces hypotension and ventricular fibrillation. Its chemical and pharmacological properties exclude the possibility that it is batrachotoxin, isobatrachotoxin, tetrodotoxin or saxitoxin, the only known non-protein toxins which are more lethal than atelopidtoxin. © 1969.