Epibatidine

Epibatidine is an alkaloid that originally is found in the skin of a neotropical poisonous frog, Epipedobates tricolor, found in modern Ecuador. It was initially isolated by John Daly at the National Institutes of Health, and was found to be a powerful analgesic, about 200 times more potent than morphine.^[1] Because the natural source of epibatidine can only supply a small quantity, several laboratory syntheses have been developed.^[2]

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Interestingly, the compound is not an opioid; instead, it is similar to nicotine and appears to act by binding and activating nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. While epibatidine may be too toxic to use in clinical practice, the compound represents a new lead in the drug design of new analgesics.^[3]

References

1. ^ *Epibatidine - A review by Matthew J. Dowd
2. ^ Olivo, Horacio F.; Hemenway, Michael S. Recent syntheses of epibatidine. A review. Organic Preparations and Procedures International (2002), 34(1), 1-26.
3. ^ Carroll, F. Ivy. Epibatidine structure-activity relationships. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters (2004), 14(8), 1889-1896.