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Quinine, C20H24N2O2, is a natural white Crystal line Alkaloid having Antipyretic , Anti-malarial and Analgesic properties and a bitter taste. It is a Stereoisomer of Quinidine . Quinine was the primary agent used in the treatment of Malaria until it was supplanted by more effective synthetic drugs like Quinacrine , Chloroquine , and Primaquine . Quinine may still be used to treat resistant malaria, nocturnal leg cramps, and Arthritis . It was also used in an attempt to treat people who had been infected by Prion s, but with only limited success. It was once also a popular Heroin Adulterant . The Theorized mechanism of action for quinine and related anti-malarial drugs is that these drugs are toxic to the malaria Parasite , specifically by interfering with the parasite's ability to break down and digest Hemoglobin , thus starving the parasite and/or causing the build-up of toxic levels of partially degraded hemoglobin in the parasite. Quinine was extracted from the bark of the South America n Cinchona tree, isolated and named in 1820 by French researchers Pierre Joseph Pelletier and Joseph Caventou . The name was derived from the original Quechua (Native American) word for the cinchona tree bark, "Quina" or "Quina-Quina", which roughly means "bark of bark" or "holly bark". Prior to 1820, the bark was first dried, ground to a fine powder, and then mixed into a liquid (commonly wine) before being drunk. The large scale use of quinine as a Prophylactic started around 1850 , although it had been used in un-extracted form by Europeans since at least the early 1600s . Quinine was first used to treat malaria in Rome in 1631. During the 1600s, malaria was endemic to the Swamp s and Marsh es surrounding the city of Rome . Over time, malaria was responsible for the death of several Catholic Pope s, many Cardinal s, and countless common citizens of Rome. Most of the Priest s trained in Rome had seen malaria victims, and were familiar with the Shivering brought on by the cold phase of the disease. In addition to its anti-malarial properties, quinine is an effective muscle relaxant, long used by the Quechua Indians of Peru to halt shivering brought on by cold temperatures. The Jesuit priest Agostino Salumbrino, an Apothecary by training who lived in Lima , observed the Quechua using the quinine-containing bark of the cinchoa tree for that purpose. While its effect in treating malaria (and hence malaria-induced shivering) was entirely unrelated to its effect in controlling shivering from cold, it was still the correct medicine for malaria. At the first opportunity, he sent a small quanity to Rome to test in treating malaria. In the years that followed, cinchona bark became one of the most valuable commodities shipped from Peru to Europe. containing quinine, note that quinine is Fluorescent ]] Cinchona trees remain the only practical source of quinine. However, under wartime pressure, research towards its artificial production was undertaken. A formal chemical synthesis was accomplished in 1944 by R.B. Woodward and W.E. Doering , American chemists. Since then, several more efficient total syntheses have been achieved (see review article in Angewandte Chemie, Int. Ed., 2005, 44, p. 854 ff), but none of them can compete in economical terms with isolation of the alkaloid from natural sources. Use of quinine in therapeutic doses may cause Cinchonism ; in excessive doses or rare cases, it may even cause death, usually by rapid Pulmonary Edema . In very large doses, quinine also acts as an Abortifacient ; quinine is also considered a Category X Teratogen by the FDA , meaning that it can cause Birth Defect s, especially Deafness , if taken by a woman during Pregnancy . Quinine is a flavour component of Tonic Water . According to tradition, the bitter taste of anti-malarial quinine tonic led British colonials in India to mix it with Gin , thus creating the Gin And Tonic cocktail, which is still popular today in both India and Great Britain, and in other former British colonies. In the United States , the Food And Drug Administration limits tonic water quinine to 83 Ppm , which is one-half to one-quarter the concentration used in therapeutic tonic. External links
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