https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.02.28.530532v4.full
Seemed interesting and I would like to have seen their full list of interventions. They picked one “ouabain” and I asked chatGPT about it.
Toxicity
- At higher doses it is quite toxic:
- Can cause arrhythmias, nausea, neurological symptoms, and potentially cardiac arrest.
- It’s one of the classic “digitalis-like” poisons affecting heart rhythm.
I asked three LLMs about its role with mitochondrial potassium channels and it does seem to have an indirect effect, but I don’t myself see it as a good intervention.
Literally, dose makes the poison…
Ouabain or also known as g-strophanthin, is a plant derived toxic substance that was traditionally used as an arrow poison in eastern Africa for both hunting and warfare. Ouabain is a cardiac glycoside and, in lower doses, can be used medically to treat hypotension and some arrhythmias.
Which is the case for many things, but this seems quite sensitive. Also it is skewing the metabolism rather than fixing anything. That has its merits, but also its limitations.