A neurotoxin from the Colombian arrow poison frogs (Phyllobates spp.). It is nontoxic when ingested. If it is injected or if there are ulcers present, it will cause an irreversible increase in permeability of sodium ions in nerve membrane, producing paralysis; used in experimental pharmacologic studies of neuromuscular transmission. [G. batrachos, frog, + toxin]
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ba·tracho·tox·in bə-.trak-ə-'täk-sən, .ba-trə-kō- n a very powerful steroid venom C31H42N2O6 extracted from the skin of a So. American frog (Phyllobates aurotaenia)
Medical dictionary. 2011.