veratridine

Noun

veratridine (uncountable)

1. Any of a family of neurotoxic steroid-derived alkaloids, occurring in herbs of the genus Veratrum and seeds of the sabadilla plant.
   • Like batrachotoxin and veratridine, grayanotoxins act at the voltage-dependent sodium channel in its open conformation, inhibiting its inactivation.1990, Dietrich Mebs, Ferdinand Mucho, “7: Toxins Acting on Ion Channels and Synapses”, in W. T. Shier, editor, Handbook of Toxinology, page 513
   • The veratrum alkaloid, veratridine, depolarizes excitable tissues by activating the Na⁺ channels present in the cell membranes. Therefore, one would expect veratridine to produce a depolarization of nerve that is quite similar to physiological depolarization insofar as it is mediated by changes in...2013, Thomas D. White, The Demonstration and Measurement of Adenosine Triphosphate Release from Nerves, David Paton (editor), Methods in Pharmacology, Volume 6: Methods Used in Adenosine Research...