Cinchona trees

It is over three centuries since cinchona bark came into use in European medicine, and no other natural drug has had so much written about it. There are the stories, sometimes legendary, of its discovery by Europeans, vigorous early discussions of its therapeutic value, the destruction of the S. American cinchona trees to meet the demand for bark, the labours of botanical explorers in collecting seed for the formation of plantations, the establishment and development of these plantations in Ceylon, India and Java, the competition between them, the gradual emergence of Java as the world s most important source of supply of cinchona bark, and the development of the manufacture of quinine sulphate in Europe, the United States and the Tropics. ... 

Quinine, an arylaminoalcohol, was the first antimalarial known to the Western world. It was originally produced from the bark of the cinchona tree and distributed as a powdery substance, which became... 

Pinworm is a helminHi infection that is universally common most oHier helminth infections are predomi-lianHy found in countries or areas of the world that lack proper sanitary facilities. Malaria is rare in the United States, but it is sometimes seen in individuals who have traveled to or lived in areas where this disease is a healtii problem. The first antimalarial drug, quinine, is derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. Amebiasis is seen Hiroughout the world, but it is less common in developed countries where sanitary facilities prevent Hie spread of the causative organism. 

Sometimes natural fine chemicals are by-products in bulk products refining. Examples are (a) lecithin and steroids in vegetable oil refining (b) betaine, pectin and raffinose in sugar manufacture (c) quinic acid in quinine extraction of the bark of Cinchona trees (d) chitin and the red pigment asthaxanthin in lobster and shrimp processing and (e) lanolin, lanosterol and cholesterol in sheep wool purification. 

Shikimic acid is isolated from Chinese star anis, Illicium verum, and quinic acid is extracted from the bark of Cinchona trees. Although both compounds can be found in many other plants, their isolation and purification are cumbersome. A fermentation production process of shikimic acid from other renewables such as glucose seems to be successful [46]. 

Quinine Derived from the bark of the Cinchona tree, quinine was used to treat malaria. 

All the material world is formed of mixtures, aggregates or more complex combinations of pure substances. For example, it is well known that the bark of the Cinchona tree Cinchona calisaya) shows a remarkable antimalarial activity, which is due, not to the bark as such, but to some "pure substance" which forms an integral part of it. In 1820, the French pharmacists Pelletier and Caventou isolated the active principle of the Cinchona bark, which they called quinine, as a pure, crystalline substance, m.p. 177 °C (dec), -169°, and assigned an elemental... 

During the nineteenth century, chemists had a good deal of success in isolating and purifying natural products from plant sources. Morphine was isolated as a pure compound from crude opium in 1804. Quinine was isolated from the bark of the cinchona tree in 1820 and was initially employed as a fever reducer. However, its effectiveness against malaria was soon discovered and it found an alternative highly important medical use. Sodium salicylate was isolated from the bark of the willow tree in 1821 and was also shown to have analgesic, antipyretic, and antiinflammatory properties. It took an additional 76 years, until 1897, to synthesize the acetyl derivative, acetylsalicyclic acid, commonly known as aspirin. 

The Cinchona tree remains the only economically practical source of quinine. Although the development of synthetic quinine is considered a milestone in organic chemistry, it has never been produced industrially as a substitute for naturally occurring quinine. Nevertheless, the implications of the total synthesis of quinine in new strategies for the development of safer and more efficient antimalarial drugs, as we will show in the course of the next paragraphs, is priceless. But, let us discuss this total synthesis first. 

Quinidine Quinidine, (5-vinyl-2-quinychdinyl)-(6-methyoxy-4-quinolyl)-methanol (18.1.1) is the dextro-isomer of the alkaloid quinine and is one of the four most important alkaloids, which are isolated from the bark of the cinchona tree [1-3]. Quinidine is a secondary alcohol. 

Quinine—Chemical taken from the bark of the cinchona tree and used to treat fevers and to prevent malaria, an infection of a single-celled organism through a mosquito bite. 

Quinine is the principal alkaloid derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. It has been used for malaria suppression for over 300 years. By 1959 it was superseded by other drugs, especially chloroquine. After widespread resistance to chloroquine became manifest quinine again became an important antimalarial. Its main uses are for the oral treatment of chloroquine-resistant falciparum malaria and for parenteral treatment of severe attacks of falciparum malaria. Quinine is a blood schizonticide with some gametocytocidal activity. It has no exoerythrocytic activity. Its mechanism of action is not well understood. It can interact with DNA, inhibiting strand separation and ultimately protein synthesis. Resistance of quinine has been increasing in South-East Asia. 

L E. Quinidine. These are the classic signs of cinchon-ism and are adverse effects of quinidine and quinine, constituents of the cinchona tree. Some of these effects could be seen as toxic effects of phenytoin. However, auditory acuity is associated with cinchonism and not with phenytoin toxicity. Nausea but not the other effects could be associated with ciprofloxacin. Excessive drowsiness would be expected if diazepam were involved. These effects would not be expected with the estrogen replacement therapy. 

C. Adenosine is a product of the metabolism of adenosine triphosphate. Phenytoin and lidocaine are totally synthetic, while digoxin occurs naturally in plants and quinine occurs in the cinchona tree. 

Quinine is one of several alkaloids derived from the bark of the cinchona tree. The mechanism by which it exerts its antimalarial activity is not known. It does not bind to DNA at antimalarial dosages. It may poison the parasite s feeding mechanism, and it has been termed a general protoplasmic poison, since many organisms are affected by it. 

Quinine is derived from the bark of the cinchona tree, a traditional remedy for intermittent fevers from South America. The alkaloid quinine was purified from the bark in 1820, and it has been used in the treatment and prevention of malaria since that time. Quinidine, the dextrorotatory stereoisomer of quinine, is at least as effective as parenteral quinine in the treatment of severe falciparum malaria. After oral administration, quinine is rapidly absorbed, reaches peak plasma levels in 1-3 hours, and is widely distributed in body tissues. The use of a loading dose in severe malaria allows the achievement of peak levels within a few hours. The pharmacokinetics of quinine varies among populations. Individuals with malaria develop higher plasma levels of the drug than healthy controls, but toxicity is not increased, apparently because of increased protein binding. The half-life of quinine also is longer in those with severe malaria (18 hours) than in healthy controls (11 hours). Quinidine has a shorter half-life than quinine, mostly as a result of decreased protein binding. Quinine is primarily metabolized in the liver and excreted in the urine. 

With the development of chemistry in the early 1800s came the understanding that natural products owe their medicinal properties to certain substances they contain. In 1806, for example, morphine was isolated from opium, and in 1820 quinine, a drug useful in fighting malaria, was isolated from the bark of the cinchona tree. Soon, compounds produced in the laboratory were also found to have medicinal properties. In the 1840s, for example, anesthetic activity was found in the synthetic chemicals chloroform, nitrous oxide, and ethyl ether, making painless surgery and dentistry possible. 

The alkaloid quinine occurs naturally in the bark of the Cinchona tree. Apart from its continued usefulness in the treatment of malaria, it can also be taken for the relief of nocturnal leg cramps (see Chapter 22). 

The medicinal use of quinine, an antimalarial agent, dates back over 350 years. Quinine is the chief alkaloid of cinchona, the bark of the South American cinchona tree, otherwise known as Peruvian bark, Jesuit s bark, or Cardinal s bark. In 1633, an Augustinian monk named Calan-cha of Lima, Peru, first wrote that a powder of cinchona given as a beverage, cures the fevers and tertians. By 1640, cinchona was used to treat fevers in Europe, a fact first mentioned in the European medical literature in 1643. The Jesuit fathers were the main importers and distributors of cinchona in Europe, hence the name Jesuit s bark. Cinchona also was called Cardinal s bark because it was sponsored in Rome by the eminent philosopher, Cardinal de Lugo. 

The cinchona tree belongs to the Rubiaceae family and is a native of the eastern slope of the Andes but has been largely planted in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Myanmar, with the result of improving the quinine-yielding value of many species by cultivation. There are two official species ... 

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