The dead of aconite

Plants of the genus Aconitum have a long history full of witchcraft, werewolves and wicked deeds.^1,2 Fantastical stories were built on the factual pharmacological effects of Aconitum alkaloids³ like aconitine, mesaconitine, hypaconitine and jesaconitine. Aconitine is most feared – and with good reason. It has been described as 100 times more lethal than strychnine, with an oral dose just shy of 2mg reportedly enough to kill a 68kg person.⁴ 

Aconitine likely serves as a defensive tool for the plants that produce it, discouraging predators with its deadly action. It acts quickly on sodium ion signalling channels, opening them and preventing their closure. ‘To use a car analogy, if the valves in your car’s engine open up, but then won’t close, it’s dead in the water,’ wrote toxicologist Justin Bower. ‘Just like aconitine victims.’