Some drugs are made from plants

5 Drugs Derived From Plants

Today there are at least 120 important drugs derived from plants in use in one or more countries in the world. Discover some of the common drugs and medications which are derived from plants.

Have you ever wondered how aspirin is made? Or which plants will slow down your heart rate? Find out with our roundup of five common drugs derived from plants below.

Which common drugs are derived from plants?

1. Caffeine

Used to treat fatigue and migraines, find caffeine in coffee beans, tea leaves, cacao pods, kola nuts and garana.

Many medicinal and everyday products incorporate caffeine. According to Chinese legend, emperor Shennong discovered it in 3000 BCE when he dropped tea leaves into boiling water and the result was a restorative drink. Kola nuts were traditionally chewed in West African cultures to reduce hunger pangs and increase energy levels. Meanwhile, cacao pod residue was discovered in an ancient Mayan pot.

It was the Ethiopian ancestors of the Oromo people who first harvested coffee beans for energy. Caffeine, however, wasn’t isolated from coffee beans until 1819.

Today, caffeine relieves migraine symptoms but is most commonly used for its energising properties. Who doesn’t need a cuppa on a Monday morning?

Willow Tree, Wikimedia

2. Aspirin

Used for pain relief and anti-clotting, Salix is found in willow bark.

Salicylic acid, which is a key component of aspirin, was first identified by Hippocrates. The father of medicine realised that the white powder derived from willow bark could alleviate aches, pains and fevers.

In 1763, Edward Stone first isolated the active ingredient and it has since been used in medicine for its analgesic and anti-clotting properties.

There are many different varieties of willow tree and the bark of each carries a different potency of salicylic acid. This acid chemically reacts with acetic acid to form aspirin.

Coca Erythroxylum plant

3. Cocaine

Used for anaesthesia and as a recreational drug. Cocaine is derived from the Coca plant (Erythroxylon coca).

Cocaine was discovered by the ancient Incas in South America, who chewed the Coca leaves for energy. Then the Spanish colonised the Americas and declared chewing the leaves to be the work of the Devil. Needless to say, they quickly changed their minds! The Spanish legalised chewing Coca leaves as well as taking a 10% tax cut from each crop.

Cocaine was first isolated from the Coca leaf by German chemist Friedrich Gaedcke. The purification process gradually improved over the years until cocaine became a suitable anaesthetic. The drug is still used medicinally but is more commonly known as a recreational drug.

Digitalis purpurea shutterstock

4. Digitalis

Used to treat arrhythmia, Digitals is derived from Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea).

Digitalis, or digoxin, was discovered in 1775 by Scottish doctor William Withering when his dying patient recovered after seeking alternative treatment from a local gypsy. Withering realised the gypsy had used a herbal remedy containing a variety of components, including foxglove, and extracted the active ingredient digitalis.

The drug works by slowing the heart rate but it also increases the intensity of muscle contractions. In order for it to be effective, only small doses (0.3mg) are required and overdosing is easy.

Papaver somniferum, the opium poppy Shutterstock

5. Morphine, codeine, opium

Used for pain relief and illegal recreation, these drugs are derived from the Opium Poppy (Papaver somniferum).

Cut open the fleshy seed pod of an opium poppy to collect its active ingredients. When dried, this mixture is usually around 16% morphine alkaloid, though some plants have been specially bred to produce up to 26% morphine.

The earliest images of opium poppies can be seen on ancient Sumerian artefacts dating back to 4000BC. The plant was later named ‘opion’ by the ancient Greeks. Opium was originally thought to alleviate asthma, poor sight and stomach problems. In the UK, Opiates are used as strong painkillers. They’re prescribed with care due to their highly addictive nature.

If you’d like to learn about six of the most hideous plants on earth, click here.

Do you know where your drugs come from? Most of the drugs we use today came from plants originally.

Plant chemicals (phytochemicals) are responsible for some of the most important medical advancements of our time.

Some examples include:

Here are some of the most common drugs that were derived from, or inspired by compounds found in plants.

1. Aspirin (Salicylic Acid)

Aspirin is a popular treatment for pain, inflammation, and fever. It works by inhibiting an enzyme known as cyclooxygenase (COX).

The COX-1 enzyme converts arachidonic acid to thromboxanes and prostaglandins which are responsible for sustaining inflammation and blood clotting.

The compound was first synthesized in 1890 by a man named Felix Hoffmann.

Aspirin is modelled after the naturally occurring polyphenol salicylic acid — a compound found in a handful of plants including Salix alba (white willow), Spirea spp. (wintergreens), and Betula spp. (birch).

All of these plants were traditionally used for conditions involving injury, pain, and inflammation.

The difference Aspirin has to its naturally occurring counterpart is the addition of an acetyl chemical group, which gives Aspirin its antifibrinolytic effects and improved bioavailability.

2. Quinine (Qualaquin)

Quinine is used as a malaria and babesiosis medication. It remains one of the primary treatments for malaria to this day under the brand name Quinalaquin, and the generic name Quinine.

It’s an alkaloid taken from the Cinchona calisaya tree from South America. It was a popular herb used by the local Quechua tribes of the Amazon rainforest, which eventually caught the attention of the Jesuits who brought it to Europe.

Although the drug can be synthesised, the most economically viable method of production is to extract it from the cinchona tree. Unfortunately, there are many side effects to this medication, including permanent kidney damage.

3. Opiates (Oxycontin, Morphine, Codeine)

Opiates are a class of chemicals that target the opioid receptors in the human body that regulate pain and temperature control.

Most opiates are classified as benzylisoquinoline alkaloids which can be either naturally occurring, or synthetic.

These alkaloids were discovered from the Opium poppy (Papaveraceae somniferum), starting with codeine and morphine. In 1874, a chemist named C.R Alder Wright synthesised a similar compound called diamorphine, more commonly referred to as heroin.

For the first 23 years of this discovery, nothing was done.

It wasn’t until Felix Hoffmann (the creator of aspirin), re-synthesised it that it caught the attention of Bayer Pharmaceuticals, where it was commercialised as a pain management drug.

Heroin has since been banned in most countries due to high addiction rates and drug abuse, however, opiates in general are still widely used in modern medicine. Morphine, codeine, methadone, and Fentanyl are all used to provide varying potencies of pain management.

4. Myriocin

Myriocin (aka ISP-1 or thermozymocidin), is an antibiotic and immunosuppressant derived from the sterile (non-spore-producing) fungus Mycelia sterilia and entomopathogenic (bug-eating) fungus Isaria sinclairii.

Scientists modified myriocin to produce a compound known as fingolimod (compound FTY720), which is used to treat autoimmune conditions like multiple sclerosis.

5. Penicillin

Penicillin was the very first class of antibiotics ever discovered. It’s made from a mould known as Penicillium chrysogenum. It was known for years that this mould was able to kill off bacteria, including Streptococcus and Staphylococcus strains that were responsible for substantial loss of human life around that time. A Scottish scientist named Alexander Fleming finally isolated the active constituent in 1928.

Unfortunately, Alexander was a poor communicator, and couldn’t attract any serious attention from the media or his peers on his finding. It wasn’t until 1940 that penicillin was mass produced and incorporated into conventional medicine.

Although there are many penicillins, they’re all classified as beta-lactam antibiotics. They work by blocking a key process during cell division (peptidoglycan cross-link formation), causing the cell to eject its insides, effectively killing the bacteria. This is most effective in gram-positive bacteria.

6. Digoxin

Digoxin is a heart medication used for heart failure, and cardiac arrhythmias (such as atrial flutter, or atrial fibrillation). It was isolated from the foxglove plant (Digitalis lanata) in 1930, however, the first mention of foxglove derivatives for cardiac related conditions goes all the way back to 1785. It was used to treat a condition known as dropsy, which is an accumulation of fluid under the skin, often as a result of chronic heart failure.

The use of digoxin changed how we treated cardiovascular disease for many years, but has since fallen out of favour due to some of its more dangerous side effects. In fact, in 2003 a nurse named Charles Cullen killed 40 of his patients with overdoses of digoxin and other heart medications.

Digoxin works by inhibiting sodium, potassium, ATP channels in the heart. This causes sodium levels to build up inside the cells of the heart, which then causes calcium to increase inside the cell as well. This heightened calcium allows stronger contraction of the heart, while expending less energy. It also has an effect on the vagus nerve, which is used to control the heart rhythm.

7. Paclitaxel (Taxol)

Paclitaxel is a chemotherapeutic agent derived from the bark of the Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia).When making the medicine, the yew tree was killed. As demand for the drug increased, the drug became involved in an ecological controversy. The need for the medication was scrutinised in light of the extensive damage it was causing to yew populations in North America. Researchers began seeking more sustainable ways to obtain this compound.

The drug is now made using semisynthetic methods obtained from liquid plant cultures. Although the plant tissue is still needed to make the medicine, it poses no threat to wild yew populations because manufactures now rely on sterile lab-grown cultures of the plant.

Paclitaxel works by inhibiting a compound called tubulin inside the cells.

Tubulin is needed during cell division, by inhibiting this compound, Paclitaxel is able to prevent cell division in the body.

Since cancer often involves rapidly dividing cells, the drug is used to target these rapidly dividing cells more specifically, slowing the growth of cancer.

Unfortunately, there are also a wide range of side effects, mostly as a result of the inhibition of rapidly dividing cells.

Side-effects include:

8. Vincristine & Vinblastine

Vincristine and vinblastine are alkaloids taken from the Madagascar periwinkle plant (Catharanthus roseus).

Both are intravenous chemotherapeutic agents used for cancers like Hodgkin’s disease and neuroblastoma. Vinblastine was isolated first in 1958, with vincristine to follow in 1961.

Similarly to Paclitaxel, these alkaloids work by preventing cells from dividing by blocking tubulin. This has a marked effect on cancers, which are often characteristic in how rapidly they divide. As a result of this action, both have fairly strong side effects including hair loss, constipation, nausea & vomiting, neutropenia (low white blood cells), and lung damage.

9. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)

Lysergic acid was made in 1938 by a man named Albert Hofmann in Switzerland.

It’s made from a naturally occurring alkaloid called ergotamine found in the fungus called ergot (Claviceps purpurea). It can now be manufactured synthetically.

Hofmann didn’t identify the psychoactivity of the extract for another 5 years. Soon after his discovery, it was picked up by psychologists a treatment for psychiatric illnesses, and by the United States government in an attempt to use mind control (for which it was unsuccessful).

LSD works by stimulating various types of serotonin receptors (5HT2A, and 5HT2B), as well as the dopamine D2 receptors in the brain.

Task 5. Translate the sentences from Russian into English.

1. Слово «фармация» произошло от греческого слова «φάρμακυ».

2. В обязанности фармацевта входит не только приготовление, распределение и отпуск лекарственных средств, но и помощь покупателям в их правильном выборе и использовании.

3. Фармацевты несут ответственность за точность заполнения рецептов, поэтому им следует быть очень внимательными и даже скрупулезными.

4. В настоящее время приготовление лекарств по предписанию врача составляет лишь малую часть фармацевтической практики.

5. Огромное количество лекарств выпускается фармацевтическими компаниями в стандартной дозировке и упаковке.

6. Многие фармацевты работают экспертами в медицинских страховых компаниях, занимаясь разработкой страховых пакетов и выполняя анализы выгодности затрат для различных лекарственных средств.

7. Как известно, многие фармацевты участвуют в научно-исследовательских проектах, разрабатывая новые лекарства и проверяя их терапевтическое воздействие на пациентов.

8. При работе со многими лекарственными средствами фармацевт должен строго соблюдать меры безопасности, пользоваться маской и перчатками.

9. Фармацевту необходимо постоянно повышать свой профессиональный уровень, быть в курсе новинок, уметь грамотно порекомендовать их покупателям.

10. В аптеке покупателю помогут не только выбрать нужное лекарство, но разработать удобную схему приема, соответствующую его обычному распорядку дня.

Task 6. Retell the text.

Theme 13

Medicinal Plants

Plants have always been of interest to man. The collection and the use of medicinal plants began many thousands years ago. At an early period men distinguished and named some kinds of plants they found.

Hippocrates, the father of medicine who described drugs made of such medicinal plants as hemlock, gentian and many others.

The word drug itself comes from the Dutch word “droog” (via the French word “drogue”), which means “dried plant”. Some examples are quinine (from the cinchona [siηkounə]), morphine and codeine (from the poppy) and digoxin (from the foxglove).

Many of the pharmaceuticals currently available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal remedies e.g. opium, aspirin, digitalis (foxglove) and quinine. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the world’s population presently uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care.

In addition to the use in the developing world, herbal medicine is used in industrialized countries by alternative medicine practitioners such as homeopaths.

All plants produce chemical compounds as part of their normal metabolic activities. These are divided into primary metabolites, such as sugars and fats, found in all plants, and secondary metabolites, compounds not essential for basic function found in a smaller range of plants, some useful ones found only in a particular genus or species.

Many plants synthesize substances that are useful to the maintenance of health in humans and animals. These include aromatic substances, most of which are phenols or their oxygen-substituted derivatives such as tannins. In many cases, substances such as alkaloids serve as defense mechanisms against microorganisms, insects. Many herbs and spices used by humans yield useful medicinal compounds.

The functions of secondary metabolites are varied. For example, some secondary metabolites are toxins used to deter predation, and others are pheromones used to attract insects for pollination. Today many drug plants are cultivated and many are collected from fields and woods. Some drugs are made from fruits, leaves, flowers, roots and seeds of the plants.

Here are some medicines made of plants and their use:

Rhubarb [ru:ba:b]: The rhizomes [raizəmz] of the rhubarb are collected from six to seven year old plants just before the flowering season. The rhizomes are dried either in the sun or in ovens. After the drying operation the rhizomes are peeled. Rhubarb was used in China more than 4000 years ago. It was used by the Greek and Roman physicians and was used in Europe in the Middle Ages. Rhubarb was used for its purgative action.

Althaea[ǽlθiə]: The generic name, Althaea, is derived from the Greek altho (to cure), from its healing properties. The name of the family, Malvaceae, is derived from the Greek malake (soft), from the special qualities of the Mallows in softening and healing. Biennial roots of this plant are collected, dried and peeled. After peeling it is cut into small pieces. Althaea is used as a sedative in the form of mucilage or in the form of syrup. Famous Marshmallow is a confection that has been softened in hot water and whipped to a spongy consistency. This is the modern version of a medicinal confection made from Althaea, the marshmallow plant.

Interesting facts.

The 16th-century French diplomat Jean Nicot being in Portugal saw a miraculous plant imported from America and brought tobacco leaves to France to treat Catherine de Medici for her migraines. Nicot believed that the plant could cure cancer, headaches and many other diseases. But time showed that he was absolutely wrong. We owe Nicot the word “nicotine”.

At the Chemist’s

Chemist’s shop (a pharmacy in Great Britain, a drug store in the USA) is an institution of health service. It supplies the population with medicines and medical things. It is a place where a wide variety of articles is sold and prescription can be made; drugs are dispensed, stored and sold. There are different types of chemist’s: municipal, public, private. Each chemist’s shop has a chemist’s department and a prescription one. All medicines are kept in drug cabinets, open shelves and refrigerators at a chemist’s.

At the chemist’s department a person buys drugs ready to use, different things for medical care and medi­cal herbs.

Poisonous, drastic, narcotic and psychotropic drugs are sold by prescription only at the prescription department. These drugs are potent and can be dangerous if taken in an overdose. Therefore, their use is strictly controlled.

Every small bottle, a tube or a box of medicine has a label on it. White labels indicate drugs for internal use, yellow ones indicate drugs for external use and blue ones indicate drugs used for injections. The dose to be taken and the directions for the administration are also indicated on a label. Besides, all containers of dispensed medicines have the following particulars: name of the patient, name of the medicine, correct dosage instructions, date of dispensing, expiry date, warnings or contraindications, name and address of the pharmacy. It prevents confusing different remedies, some of which are poisonous. Their overdosage may cause unfavourable reactions and sometimes even death.

The structure of a complete prescription includes six essential parts: the patient’s name, the superscription (i.e. the traditional symbol Rx at the beginning of the prescription), the inscription (i.e. the body of the prescription containing the ingredients and their quantities), the subscription (i.e. prescriber’s instructions to the pharmacist), the signature (i.e. directions to the patient) and the prescriber’s name.

In continental Europe, prescriptions are written out in Latin abbreviations. The only exception is the signature. That is why European medical schools require two years of Latin as part of the curriculum for medical doctors and pharmacists. In Great Britain, all prescriptions are written out in English to avoid ambiguity and misunderstanding that might lead to serious consequences.

Exercise 6. Answer the questions:

1. What is a chemist’s shop?

2. What departments are there at every chemist’s?

3. What can a person buy at the chemist’s department?

4. What can a person buy at the prescription department?

5. Where are all the drugs kept at the chemist’s?

6. Why are some drugs sold by prescription only?

7. What are the necessary particulars on the label?

8. What does the complete prescription consist of?

Exercise 7. Match the terms with their explanations:

Exercise 8. Find the English equivalents to the following word-combinations in the text:

Забезпечувати населення ліками; виготовляти, зберігати та продавати ліки; відділ продажу готових ліків; рецептурний відділ; зберігати у шафах для ліків та відкритих полицях; отруйні та сильнодіючі ліки; суворо контролювати; викликати несприятливі реакції; дата виготовлення та термін зберігання; протипоказання та побічні дії; виникати внаслідок передозування; призводити до серйозних наслідків.

Exercise 9. Replace the words in bold type with their equivalents from the texts above:

1. Any medicine should be taken according to the prescription.

2. A chemist’s provides people with medicines.

3. The body of the prescription includes the ingredients of a drug.

4. The drugs are kept in drug cabinets.

5. An excessive intake of drugs leads to bad results.

6. Toxic drugs are sold by prescription only.

7. Some additional effects appear when taking these pills.

8. To escape double meaning the British don’t use Latin abbreviations.

Exercise 10. Insert the preposition where necessary:

1. You can find this drug … the chemist’s over there.

2. The prescription is written … in Latin.

3. Overdosage causes … serious consequences.

4. I was … a sick-leave twice last year.

5. I keep all the medicines … a small drug cabinet.

6. This procedure consists … listening … the patient’s heart and lungs.

7. Depending … the weather, we’ll either go … the polyclinic or call … a doctor.

8. World Health Organisation supplies … people … the information about epidemics.

Exercise 11. Read and translate the sentences. Define the tense and voice of the predicate. Make the sentences negative and interrogative:

Model:

A chemist’s provides us with medicines and things for care. (provides – Present Simple Active)

A chemist’s doesn’t provide us with medicines and things for care.

Does a chemist’s provide us with medicines and things for care?

1. I completed this project a week ago.

2. His diagnosis is confirmed by X-ray.

3. The course of the disease seems mild.

4. Every human needs vitamins and minerals.

5. Drastic drugs are sold by prescription only.

6. They will use the new method in their research.

7. The findings of blood analysis will be made in an hour.

8. The structure of the human body was described by A.Vesalius.

Exercise 12. Find and translate the sentences in Passive Voice only:

1. A nurse fills in the patient’s cards.

2. Some drugs are made from plants.

3. A nurse looks after the patients.

4. We were examined at the clinic yesterday.

5. The patients’ tests are taken every morning.

6. The electrocardiograms were taken yesterday.

7. The infection diseases can pass through the mouth and nose.

8. The patients are not allowed to take the medicines themselves.

Exercise 13. Change sentences from Active into Passive:

Model:

The doctor will examine you in a minute. – You will be examined by the doctor in a minute.

1. A. Fleming discovered penicillin by chance.

2. The surgeon operated on the patient successfully.

3. Students study basic theoretical subjects in the first term.

4. Scientists introduced new methods of treatment of cancer.

5. The district doctor will prescribe you the proper treatment.

6. The doctor made a correct diagnosis after the physical examination.

7. The doctor will discharge the patient from the hospital in two days.

8. The nurse on duty usually takes the patients to different procedures.

Exercise 14. Re-write sentences opening brackets:

1. These drugs (to sell) yesterday.

2. A complete prescription (to consist) of six essential parts.

3. The daily dosage (to indicate) always on the label of the medicine.

4. In the future, sale of potent drugs (to control) much more strictly.

5. The prescriber’s name (to guarantee) the authenticity of the drug.

6. Yesterday, before taking the pills she (to read) the package insert.

7. Drastic medicines (to cause) such side effects as nauseas and dizziness.

8. If expiry date of a remedy is over, a pharmacist immediately (to write) it off.

Exercise 15. Put questions to the underlined words:

1. Latin is the language of prescriptions.

2. There are two departments at any chemist’s.

3. The use of potent drugs is strictly controlled.

4. The physician prescribed him mild laxatives.

5. A chemist’s supplies population with medicines.

6. In Britain prescriptions are written out in English only.

7. They will take into consideration all the doctor’s administration.

8. The pharmacist instructed the patient about the medication’s side effects.

Exercise 16. Translate sentences into English:

1.Всі рецепти виписують латинською.

2. Rx – латинський символ, який означає «рецепт».

3. В цій аптеці ліки виготовляються за рецептом.

4. Повна структура рецепту включає шість складових частин.

5. Саме аптеки забезпечують населення ліками та іншими медичними речами.

6. Фармацевти зберігають ліки в аптечних шафах, на відкритих полицях чи в холодильниках.

7. Виготовляючи ліки, фармацевти мають бути особливо уважними, що уникнути помилок.

8.Цей препарат – сильнодіючий; у надмірній дозі він може призвести до несприятливих наслідків.

Exercise 17. Describe the notion “chemist’s” using the following table:

Завдання для самостійної роботи студентів (СРС)

Exercise 1. Topic Vocabulary:

Exercise 2. Read the word combinations with the new words and translate them into Ukrainian:

Nutrient: nutrient medium; nutrient absorption; nutrient excess; intravenous nutrient; nutrient-enriched food.

Exception: without exception; an exception to the rule; as an exception; make an exception; be no exception.

Compound: acid compound; iodine compound; oxygenated compound; low molecular weight compound.

Carbohydrate: carbohydrate balance; carbohydrate diet; carbohydrate metabolism; complex carbohydrates; organic chemical compound.

Exercise 3. Form nouns with the help of the following suffixes, translate them into Ukrainian:

-ance(-ence):perform, assist, differ, maintain, appear, occur, disturb, resist

-ion:except, reflect, direct, ingest, suggest, collect, infect, solute, combine

Exercise 4. Read and translate the following word combinations:

Organic compound, sufficient quantity, single exception, essential nutrients, fatty acid, amino acid, water-soluble vitamins, fat-soluble vitamins, be stored in the fatty tissue, ingest frequently, excreted through the urine, diverse biochemical functions, maintain body tissues, immune system’s performance, outer cell membrane, deficiency disease, vitamin poisoning.

Exercise 5. Read and translate the text:

Task 1. Learn the following words and word combinations

Task 2. Find the words and word-combinations in the text, reproduce the context they are used in and translate into Russian:

1. medicinal plants

2. the collection and use

3. all kinds of drugs

4. the father of medicine

5. the word drug comes from

6. means “dried plant”

7. currently available

8. herbal remedies

Task 3. Answer the questions:

1. When did the collection and use of medicinal plants begin?

2. What does the word drug come from and what does it mean?

3. Do herbal remedies have a long history of use?

4. What part of the world’s population uses herbal medicine for primary health care?

5. What do all plants produce?

6. What substances do many plants synthesize?

7. What useful synthesized substances can we name?

8. How many secondary metabolites have been isolated?

9. What role do alkaloids play?

10. What do herbs and spices used by humans yield?

11. The functions of secondary metabolites are varied, aren’t they?

12. Are drug plants cultivated and collected today?

13. What are some drugs made from?

14. What is rhubarb used for? What part of the plant is used for medicinal purpose?

15. Althaea is used as a sedative and what forms is it used in?

Task 4. Mach English sentences to their Russian equivalents:

Task 5. Translate the given sentences into Russian, close your book and translate then back into English:

1. The collection and the use of medicinal plans began many thousands years ago.

2. Such names of drugs as hemlock, gentian and others were mentioned by Hippocrates in his book about drugs.

3. The word drug comes from the Dutch word “droog”, which means “dried plant”.

4. The pharmaceuticals that are currently available to physicians were used as herbal drugs many years ago.

5. These herbal remedies are opium, morphine, codeine, aspirin, digitalis, quinine, etc.

6. 80 percent of the world’s population presently uses herbal medicine for some aspect of primary health care.

7. Herbal medicine is used both in developing countries and industrialized world.

8. Alternative medicine practitioners all over the world consult population and give their recommendations on the use of medicinal plants.

9. Today many drug plants are cultivated and many are collected from fields and woods.

10. Some drugs are made of fruits, leaves, roots, flowers, seeds of the plants.