Colchicine is a medication most commonly used to treat gout. It is a toxic natural product and secondary metabolite, originally extracted from plants of the genus Colchicum (autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale, also known as meadow saffron).Adverse effects are primarily gastrointestinal upset at high doses.vailability of tubulin is essential to mitosis, so colchicine effectively functions as a mitotic poison or spindle poison. The mitosis-inhibiting function of colchicine has been of great use in the study of cellular genetics.