Methyllycaconitine is a plant alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

 found in the larkspur

Consolida

Consolida is a genus of about 40 species of annual flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native from western Europe through the Mediterranean region east to central Asia...

, and has been identified as an antagonist of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, or nAChRs, are cholinergic receptors that form ligand-gated ion channels in the plasma membranes of certain neurons and on the postsynaptic side of the neuromuscular junction...

s (nAChrs) in the muscle and brain. It is one of many alkaloids found in the larkspur, but is believed to be one of the major culprits in the poisoning of livestock in the Western United States.

Toxicology

Larkspur poisoning in cattle results in labored breathing, rapid and irregular heartbeat, muscular weakness, and collapse. This is believed to be a result of the blockade of nAChrs in the neuromuscular junction

Neuromuscular junction

A neuromuscular junction is the synapse or junction of the axon terminal of a motor neuron with the motor end plate, the highly-excitable region of muscle fiber plasma membrane responsible for initiation of action potentials across the muscle's surface, ultimately causing the muscle to contract...

, and of antagonism of the α7 nAChrs in the brain.

External links

• Plant extract may block cannabis addiction