Animals pharmaceutical sources

Toxicity would be expected from ingestion of pharmaceutical sources. Methylxanthines are not commonly used in animals. Limited information on toxicity exists. Tachyarrhythmias, hypotension, and seizures have been seen. 

A considerable quantity of oil can be extracted from waste material from shelling and processing plants, eg, the inedible kernels rejected during shelling and fragments of kernels recovered from shells. About 300 t of pecan oil and 300—600 t of English walnut oil are produced aimuaHy from such sources. The oil is refined and used for edible purposes or for the production of soap the cake is used in animal feeds (see Feeds and feed additives). Fmit-pit oils, which closely resemble and are often substituted for almond oil, are produced on a large scale for cosmetic and pharmaceutical purposes (143). For instance, leaves, bark, and pericarp of walnut may be used to manufacture vitamin C, medicines, dyes and tannin materials (144). 

The pharmaceutical industry has employed materials of plant and animal origin as sources of drugs. The industry has utilized the life processes of either plants or animals and microorganisms to produce medicinal and antibiotic products. 

Coincidental with the above developments, biomedical scientists in pharmaceutical companies were actively pursuing purified extracts and pure compounds derived from plants and animal sources (e.g., digitalis, rauwolfia alkaloids, and animal hormones) as human medicaments. Analogs and derivatives of these purified substances were also investigated... 

Over the years, the use of extractives from plants, animals and minerals in therapeutics has been profound and progressive. Until the advent of synthetic and semi-synthetic drugs, natural remedies had been the sole source of medications in the medieval era. In spite of the rise in the use of synthetic pharmaceutical products, the use of natural bioremedies has continued to be rife. Apart from their proven efficacy, natural bioactive... 

Human insulin differs slightly from cow, pig, sheep, horse, and other forms of insulin, as shown in the table on page 68. For the vast majority of diabetics, these differences are irrelevant. Bovine (cow), porcine (pig), and some other forms of animal insulin can be pharmaceutically used as substitutes for human insulin. About 5 percent of all diabetics experience reactions to animal insulin, however, and for such individuals, only insulin taken from human sources can be used as a replacement drug in the treatment of their diabetes. 

The search for chemicals that will provide relief from pain, cure disease and infection, and offer an escape from the real world has been a part of virtually every known human culture. In the earliest period of human civilization, plants, animal products, and minerals were the major source from which such chemicals were obtained. Many of those products—ranging from natural poisons obtained from frogs and certain types of plants to rocky minerals such as compounds of arsenic to mind-altering substances derived from mushrooms and cacti—are still used in at least some parts of the world as a means of capturing prey, for the treatment of disease, or for recreational purposes. Indeed, many pharmaceutical chemists believe that the natural world contains an almost endless supply of yet-to-be-discovered chemicals that will significantly augment the world s supply of drugs. 

There are five basic sources of pharmaceuticals. By dollar value of products, fermentation is probably the most important, whereas by tonnage, chemical synthesis is dominant. Fermentation is used for antibiotics such as penicillins and tetracyclines. Chemical synthesis provides drugs such as the psychotropics and antihistamines. Animal extracts provide hormones. Biological sources lead to vaccines and serums. Vegetable extracts provide steroids and alkaloids. The top ten pharmaceutical companies in order of revenues are the following Merck, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Johnson ... 

Potassium iodide is found in seaweed. Some important appbcations of this compound involve its use in pharmaceuticals and as a source of iodine in food, especially in animal and poultry feed. Potassium iodide is added to table salt to provide iodine in human food. 

Table 1.10. Some pharmaceutical substances originally isolated from animal sources. While some are still produced by direct extraction from the native source, others are now also produced by direct chemical synthesis (e.g. peptides and some steroids), or by recombinant DNA technology (most of the pol5 peptide products). Abbreviations hGH = human growth hormone FSH=follicle stimulating hormone hCG=human chorionic gonadotrophin HSA=human serum albumin HBsAg=hepatitis B surface antigen...

A wide range of pharmaceutical substances are derived from animal sources (Table 1.10). Many are protein-based and detailed description of products such as insulin and other polypeptide hormones, antibody preparations, vaccines, enzymes, etc., have been deferred to subsequent chapters. (Many of the therapeutic proteins are now also produced by recombinant DNA technology. Considerable overlap would have been generated had a product obtained by direct extraction from native sources been discussed here, with further discussion of a version of the same product produced by recombinant DNA technology at a later stage.) Non-proteinaceous pharmaceuticals originally derived from animal sources include steroid (sex) hormones, corticosteroids and prostaglandins. A limited discussion of these substances is presented below, as they will not be discussed in subsequent chapters. Most of these substances are now prepared synthetically. 

Excretion from treated animals is yet another source of APIs in the environment. The application of manure as fertilizer is the main source of such veterinary pharmaceuticals into the environment. These APIs can be washed into the surface water by rainfall either after the application of manure or after the direct application of pharmaceuticals on to animals (e.g. anti-parasites). 

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