Drugs Derived from Morphine

The A -allyl derivative nalorphine (3-2) is prepared from A -demethylmorphine (3-1) by alkylation with allyl bromide [2]. The discovery that this compound proved to antagonize the activity of morphine in experimental animals led to the synthesis of the potent opioid antagonist naloxone (8-3), which is discussed below. Nalorphine (3-2), in marked contrast to the latter, does show some modest analgesic activity in humans. 

One of the more benign ancillary activities of morphine lies in its activity in suppressing the cough reflex. Catalytic reduction of codeine (1-2) leads to the dihydro derivative (4-1). Oppenauer oxidation of the hydroxyl group leads to hydrocodone (4-2) [3], a compound used extensively in cough remedies it is of note, however, that this drug retains considerable opioid activity. 

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Drugs derived from morphine and other opium compounds are called opiates. Today, many hundreds of opiates are known some are semisynthetic derivatives, like heroin, and others are purely synthetic, like Demerol. In general, all of the opiates produce similar effects. They differ from each other in potency, in duration of action, in how active they are by mouth, and in how much mood change they cause relative to their physical effects. Opiates that arc more potent, shorter-acting, and more active by injection lend themselves more easily to abuse. 

Opiates are drugs derived from opium, including morphine and heroin 914... 

Heroin, the diacetyl derivative of morphine, is the most important illicit drug derived from the opium poppy. Together with heroin and its metabolites, other synthetic (e.g., methadone, tramadol) and semi-synthetic (e.g., buprenorphine) opioids have been quantified in different biological fluid using HPLC. 

For centuries opium was used for both medicinal and recreational purposes. Derived from the poppy Papaver somniferum, it contains numerous opiates, the primary one of which is morphine. The term opiate has largely been replaced by opioid, which represents all compounds with morphinelike activity and includes morphine, morphine derivatives, and peptides. Opiate is used to refer to morphinelike drugs derived from the plant and structurally similar analogues. These drugs are frequently referred to as narcotics, a Greek term for stupor, which is scientifically obsolete. Even in its early history, opium presented a problem when it was smoked or taken orally. The introduction of the hypodermic needle and syringe, however, drastically enhanced the euphoric properties of opioids and thereby altered their abuse liability. In addition, the synthesis of heroin resulted in an opioid that was more potent than morphine and ideally suited for intravenous administration. 

Opiate refers to any drug derived from opium. Opiates inciude codeine, morphine, and papaverine. 

Codeine is extracted from opium. Opium is a chemically complex drug derived from a flowering plant, the opium poppy. The scientific name for the opium poppy is Papaver somniferum, which translated from Greek means poppy that causes sleep. Opium is produced by drying the thick liquid harvested from the unripe seed capsule of the flower. It contains several different medically important chemicals known as alkaloids (non-acidic chemicals), the most important being morphine and codeine. 

All drugs derived from opium poppy are called opiates. Of the opiates, heroin (diacetylmorphine) is the most potent and fast-acting. Though heroin is no longer used in medical settings, its less potent cousins— codeine, liquid morphine, pethidine, and methadone— are found in clinics and hospitals all over the world. But it wasn t until the early 1970s that scientists began to understand the real reasons behind heroin s propensity for abuse and addiction. 

Examples include mescaline, an hallucinogen derived from the peyote cactus, and morphine (p. 405), the pain-relieving drug derived from opium. How do the methyl groups get there Two steps are involved, both of them nucleophilic substitutions. 

Narcotics Narcotic drugs have analgesic effects and tend to depress the CNS and promote sleep. Opiate alkaloids (drugs derived from the opium plant) cue the best-known narcotics and include morphine, codeine, heroin, hydromor-phone, oxycodone, and hydrocodone. 

Opiates, narcotic compounds extracted or derived from opium, are a remarkable source of lead compounds for their potent pharmaceutical effects such as analgesics, antitussives and ataractics, and of which many synthetic derivatives have been prepared [8, 72], Apomorphine (28), a dopamine agonist derivative from morphine (5) but without analgesic properties like morphine, was recently approved as a therapy for Parkinson s disease [73], Hydrocodone (30) is a narcotic agent derived from thebaine (29) and is commonly combined with other analgesics such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen as drugs to relieve pain. [74]. Naloxone (31) and naltrexone (32) are both opioid receptor antagonists. Naloxone is used as a treatment for opioid... 

In the strict sense, opiates are drugs which are derived from opium and include the natural products morphine, codeine, thebaine and many semi-synthetic congeners derived from them. In the wider sense, opiates are morphine-like drugs with non-peptidic structures. The old term opiates is now more and more replaced by the term opioids which applies to any substance, whether endogenous or synthetic, pqrtidic or non-peptidic, that produces morphine-like effects through an action on opioid receptors. 

When Montgomery and I published our article, we thought we had disproven another theory of placebo effects - the theory that placebo effects are produced by the release of endorphins in the brain. In 1978 researchers at the University of California in San Francisco discovered that when placebos reduce pain, they may stimulate the release of endorphins.18 Endorphins, the existence of which had only been discovered a few years earlier, are opioids that are produced naturally by the brain. Just like the opiates that are derived from opium - morphine and codeine, for example - endorphins reduce the sensation of pain. The University of California researchers reasoned that if placebos can mimic the effects of opiate drugs, maybe they do so by stimulating the release of the brain s endogenous opioids. 

Opiate A drug related to morphine, derived from opium. 

The chemical structures and biological activities of hundreds of opioid analgesics derived from the prototype opioid drug morphine are most comprehensively described in two books published in 1986, one entitled Opioid Analgesics, Chemistry and Receptors by Casy and Parfitt [1] and the other entitled Opiates by Lenz et al. [2]. Follow-up articles include those by Casy in 1989, entitled Opioid Receptors and their Ligands Recent Developments [3] which also includes sections on opioid peptides, affinity labelling and opioid receptor subtypes Rees and Hunter in 1990 [4] covering the... 

The use of prodrugs with higher lipophrlicity compared to the parent molecule is realized in the classical example of heroin and morphine. Heroin, the di-acetyl derivative of morphine, penetrates the BBB by one log order better than morphine and is cleaved by tissue esterases to release the active parent drug. As follows from fhe pharmacokinetic principles shown in Section 2.3.2.1 (Eq. 2.3), brain concentration is a function of bofh BBB permeability, reflected by and plasma area under the curve ... 

Brain uptake data for some vectors are compared in Table 2.1. Quantitative comparisons within the same species are possible for the rat with vectors derived from the anti-TfR monoclonal antibody 0X26 and from cationized human serum albumin. To put the efficiency of brain delivery into perspective, the comparison to a classical neuroactive drug may be informative. In the rat, brain concentrations of morphine following systemic administration never exceed 0.08% of injected dose per gram [%ID g ] [82]. In contrast, 0X26 easily reaches concentrations in rat brain that are three to four times higher. Vectors based on cationized hu-... 

Hydrocodone is a widely prescribed (and abused) pharmaceutical designed as a pain-reliever. The drug works by converting into a form of morphine once it enters the body. Hydrocodone can be derived from either codeine or thebaine and is three times more powerfiil than codeine. Hydrocodone has various trade names. 

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