Curare is a competitive antagonist to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. South A

Question

Curare is a competitive antagonist to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. South American Indians dipped arrows in curare to paralyze animals while hunting. Curare is a strong base with a pKa slightly higher than 10. Explain why meat from animals killed with these arrows was safe to eat in regards to curare absorption.

I tried. There is a lot of confusing information about this on google, not all of which may be relevant. My best guess based on this question, is that not all of the toxin is absorbed into the animals tissues, the animals are smaller than humans are, and even if they aren't, a human's stomach couldn't eat an entire deer at one sitting, and curare must need a certain volume of distribution to kill. I'm not sure how the strong base and pKa factor into it though. Help?

Explanation / Answer

Curare had been used as a source of arrow poison by south american natives to hunt animals,and they were able to eat the animals contaminated flesh subsequently without any adverse effects because curare cannot easily cross mucus membrane. It only works if the poison gets in to the blood stream.

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