Dart frog toxin allegedly used to kill Russian opposition leader

International

THE UK and some of its European allies have claimed that Alexei Navalny, the Russian opposition leader, was allegedly killed using a deadly toxin derived from South American poison dart frogs.

According to the UK Foreign Office, per a report by BBC, traces of epibatidine were detected in samples from Navalny’s body, and the toxin is believed to have contributed to his death at a Siberian penal colony two years ago.

Allies have asserted that only the Russian state had the “means, motive, and opportunity” to deploy such a lethal substance.

Russian state-run media, TASS, reported that the Kremlin dismissed these findings as part of an “information campaign.”

Toxicology expert Jill Johnson explained that epibatidine is a natural neurotoxin isolated from the Ecuadorian poison dart frog and is approximately 200 times more potent than morphine. While epibatidine exists in wild dart frogs across South America, it can also be synthesized in laboratories.

European allies noted that dart frogs do not naturally produce this toxin in Russia. Species known to produce it include Anthony’s poison arrow frog and the Phantasmal poison frog, which accumulate the toxin in their skin through a diet that generates alkaloids — the organic compounds responsible for epibatidine. If a frog’s diet changes, its epibatidine reserves gradually diminish.

Although epibatidine has been researched as a potential painkiller for inflammatory lung conditions, it has never been used clinically due to its extreme toxicity.

Effects of dart frog's poison

Johnson highlighted that epibatidine acts on nicotinic receptors in the nervous system, overstimulating nerve pathways. When administered in sufficient doses, it can cause muscle twitching, paralysis, seizures, slowed heart rate, respiratory failure, and death.

Alastair Hay, a professor of environmental toxicology at the University of Leeds, told PA that the toxin can block breathing, and any person exposed to a lethal dose is likely to die from suffocation. He added that finding epibatidine in someone’s bloodstream indicates deliberate administration.

Hay also noted that the toxicity of epibatidine can be increased when combined with certain other drugs, a combination that has been studied in laboratory settings.

Rarity of toxins

Johnson emphasized that epibatidine is extremely rare, found only in specific geographic regions and in trace amounts. Finding a wild frog in the exact location, consuming the precise diet to produce sufficient alkaloids, is nearly impossible.

She described the use of epibatidine as an exceptionally rare method of poisoning humans, with all known previous cases occurring only in laboratories and none being fatal.

The dart frog reportedly referenced by the UK Foreign Office is believed to be Anthony’s poison arrow frog, a species native to Ecuador and Peru.

European laboratories reportedly confirmed that Navalny died from this obscure poison. However, Moscow has maintained that he died of natural causes, despite Navalny’s wife, Yulia Navalnaya, insisting that her husband was murdered via poisoning.(Jovie Caton Jr., BiPSU Comm Intern)