The Source of Drugs

A major concern of DEA special agents is the identification of the source of drug evidence. One of the methods they use to meet this requirement is through ballistics examinations of tablets. A ballistics examination, in the sense used here, is a combination of in-depth chemical analysis and tool-mark examination of tablets and capsules for the purpose of identifying the manufacturer of the drug. The technique consists of accurate measurements of size scoring, imprints, or bevels the microscopic examination of the imperfections... 

Pharmacognosy deals with the study of the sources of drugs derived from plants and animal origin. 

Not all positive hair analysis results are due to passive exposure. Certainly, many positive results are due to ingestion of drugs. This section clearly illustrates that interpretation of the data must take passive exposure into consideration to determine the source of drugs in any given positive result. 

The sources of drug information are extremely diverse and include journals, books, conference proceedings, patents, and trade literature. These sources are generally classified as primary, secondary, or reference compendia/tertiary information. Primary refers to original and new information and secondary refers to reviews and commentaries of the primary information, whereas reference compendia or tertiary usually refers to compilations such as dictionaries and pharmacopoeias. When conducting an information literature search, it is wisest to begin with the reference/ tertiary sources as necessary and then move on to the secondary and finally the primary sources of drug information. 

Datura inoxia is an annual invasive weed grown in India, and used as a medicinal plant for therapeutic purposes. Datura leaves and flowers are the source of drug which is used in... 

In the second method, the amount of Form C transformed from Form A at 45°C was about two times larger than that at 0°C at the same compression energy. The crushing strength of tablets prepared from Form A was about twice that of tablets manufactured using Form C as the source of drug substance. 

The outer layer or cortex of the adrenal gland is the source of a large group of sub stances known as corticosteroids Like the bile acids they are derived from cholesterol by oxidation with cleavage of a portion of the alkyl substituent on the D ring Cortisol IS the most abundant of the corticosteroids but cortisone is probably the best known Cortisone is commonly prescribed as an antiinflammatory drug especially m the treat ment of rheumatoid arthritis... 

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. 

Brucea jaoanica (Simarubaceae). The source of a Chinese anti-dysenteric drug, Ya-tan-tzu. Stated to contain an alkaloid, yatanine. No alkaloids... 

Fraxinus malacophylla Hems. (Oleacese). The source of a Chinese drug Pai-chi-ang-kan, or Ken-ken-yao, and stated to contain an alkaloid, sinine resembling quinine. Tonkin and Work found the drug inactive in malaria in chicks and, like Mukerji, were unable to confirm the presence of an alkaloid. ((1) Liu, Chang, Chuan and Tan, Chin. Med. J., 1941, 59, 575. (2) Nature, 1945, 156, 630. (8) Bnd., 1946, 158, 170.)... 

As an inhibitor of xanthine oxidase, allopurinol also markedly decreases oxidation of both hypoxanthine and xanthine itself to the sole source of uric acid (19) in man. This metabolic block thus removes the source of uric acid that in gout causes the painful crystalline deposits in the joints. It is of interest that allopurinol itself is oxidized to the somewhat less effective drug, oxypurinol (21), by xanthine oxidase. 

Phenols also constitute a major source of xenobiotic exposure to the body in the form of drugs and environmental pollutants. Oxidative metabolism of these compounds can lead to physiological damage, therefore the metabolism of these compounds is of great interest. LCEC has been a powerful tool for investigating the metabolism of aromatic compounds by the cytochrome P-450 system LCEC... 

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