Q. Which drugs are extracted from plants and trees? How can these be developed with the help of a computer? (46 BPSC/2005)
Ans: 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:
- Antibiotics
- Chemotherapy
- Pain management
- hallucinogenic
Here are some of the most common drugs that were derived from, or inspired by compounds found in plants.
- Aspirin:
- Aspirin is a popular treatment for pain, inflammation, and fever. It works by inhibiting an enzyme known as cyclooxygenase (COX).
- Aspirin is modelled after the naturally occurring polyphenol salicylic acid — a compound found in a handful of plants including white willow, wintergreens, and birch.
- All of these plants were traditionally used for conditions involving injury, pain, and inflammation.
- Quinine:
- 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 tree from South America. It was a popular herb used by the local Quechua tribes of the Amazon rainforest.
- Although the drug can be synthesised, the most economically viable method of production is to extract it from the cinchona tree.
- Opiates:
- Opiates are a class of chemicals that target the opioid receptors in the human body that regulate pain and temperature control.
- These are alkaloids were discovered from the Opium poppy.
- Myriocin:
- It is an antibiotic and immunosuppressant derived from the sterile fungus.
- It is used to treat autoimmune conditions.
- Penicillin:
- Penicillin was the very first class of antibiotics ever discovered.
- Digoxin:
- It is a heart medication used for heart failure.
- It was isolated from the foxglove plant.
- 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.
- Taxol:
- It is a chemotherapeutic agent derived from the bark of the Pacific Yew.
- In Northeast, 68 herbs have been recorded treating malaria and about 88 for treating jaundice.
- Ladakh’s ‘solo‘ herb:
- the plant is a sanjeevani for people living in high altitudes and security personnel deployed in snow clad areas. It maintains the body’s immune system in areas with low oxygen.
- Others: Ginger, turmeric, Ashwagandha,Aloe vera etc.
Using computer for drug development:
- Drug design through computer is very effective technique in modern arena.
- Computer Aided Drug Design (CADD) technologies are used in nanotechnology, molecular biology, biochemistry etc.
- The main benefit of the CADD is cost effective in research and development of drugs. There are wide ranges of software are used in CADD.
- Computer aided drug design is applicable in Cancer disease, transportation of drug to specific site in body, data collections and storages of organics and biologicals.
- Computers Can Identify Compounds and Make Predictions for Their Use. It can also predict the adverse side effects.
- Computer is used in bio-technology for DNA simulation, genome sequencing etc.
- Computers in pharmacy are used for the information of drug data, records and files, drug management.
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