Opiate alkaloids abuse

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Morphine has a long history of use and abuse. It was the first so-called vegetable base drug isolated, an event recorded in 1805. Because morphine is basic, an early quantitation method was titration with an add. Morphine is subject to oxidation, so the morphine content of an extract can decrease after harvest. Similar degradation issues arise with the stimulant khat. Codeine, the 3-methyl ether of morphine, whose first extraction was recorded in 1832, is also found in the raw opium extracts. Opiates are used principally for pain relief thebaine is the oddball of the opiate alkaloid family, classified as a stimulant. The primary use of thebaine is as a starting point for the synthesis of oxycodone and other related semisynthetic compounds. Thebaine was also used as a poison. 

Codeine, which is an opium alkaloid is most commonly opiate used as antitussive and more selective for cough centre. Like morphine, it depresses cough centre but is less constipating and abuse liability is low. It is relatively safe drug used in cough along with analgesic property and it s only important adverse effect is constipation. 

Opium poppy Papaver somniferum L., Papaveraceae) is one of the most important medicinal plants and has been cultivated since early centuries. Opium, the dried cytoplasm of a specialized internal secretory system called the laticifer, is normally collected from the unripe capsule. It is the source for the commercial production of medicinally important alkaloids, morphine, codeine, thebaine, noscapine and papaverine [130, 131], Fig. (61). Morphine, which has strong addictive property, is still the most effective analgesic for the treatment of mortal cancer patients in modem medicine. Codeine is commonly used as an antitussive. However, field cultivation of this plant has been limited since 1953 by the United Nations Opium Conference Protocol to prevent narcotic crimes. Therefore, establishing tissue culture technique for the production of morphinan alkaloids seems to be desirable not only for medicinal purpose but also for decreasing abuse of opiates. 

Opiates are medications derived from the poppy plant that attach to opioid receptors in the brain. The extraction of morphine from opium marked the beginning of organic alkaloid chemistry and has led to the synthesis of a variety of semisynthetic and synthetic analgesics. Opium and its derivatives have been used for thousands of years not only for pain relief but also for the euphoria that they produce. It is this dual effect that allows them to be so useful but also addictive and therefore dangerous. Understanding their stmcture, action, use, and abuse reflects the close connection that we have with the plant world. 

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