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Introduction
Published in Namrita Lall, Medicinal Plants for Cosmetics, Health and Diseases, 2022
Talita Turvey, Samantha R. Loggenberg, Namrita Lall
This contributed to the commercialization of cocaine, derived from the coca plant (Erythroxylum coca Lam.), for medicinal purposes in the late 1800s. Strangely enough, it was used as a treatment for opiate addiction and to perform eye surgery, because it acted as a local anesthetic. During the late 1860s, it became popular to drink coca wines, of which the most famous was Vin Mariani. Two glasses of wine contained approximately 50 mg of cocaine, and it was even endorsed by the Pope at the time (Karch, 1999). Heroin or diacetylmorphine, which is derived from morphine that is isolated from the opium poppy plant (Papaver somniferum L.), is another example of a synthetic compound that had a variety of controversial uses in the past. It was first developed by Bayer Pharmaceuticals in 1898 as an anti-tussive to suppress coughing and was thought to act as a cure for alcoholism. During this time, it was possible to order heroin together with appropriate syringes for administration to be delivered to the individual’s doorstep (Sneader, 1998).
Convolvulus pluricaulis (Shankhpushpi) and Erythroxylum coca (Coca plant)
Published in Azamal Husen, Herbs, Shrubs, and Trees of Potential Medicinal Benefits, 2022
Sashi Sonkar, Akhilesh Kumar Singh, Azamal Husen
The plant Erythroxylum coca Lam. (Figure 4.2), commonly known as “Sivadari” in Tamil/Siddha and “coca” or “cocaine plant” in English, belongs to the family Erythroxylaceae. The plant is native to Peru and Bolivia and was introduced in India and cultivated in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam experimentally (Khare, 2007). The plants are shrubs or small trees of about 5 m (Bhattacharya et al., 2017), which resembles a blackthorn bush (AP, 2014). The branches are straight, and the green-tinged leaves are thin, opaque, oval, and taper towards the ends. An areolated region of the leaf is distinguished by two longitudinal curving lines, one on each side of the midrib and more visible on the underside of the leaf. Inflorescence is axillary clusters. The flower is small, creamy white, hypogynous, petals five, polypetalous, and sepals five. Stamens are two sets of which one set of stamens faces the petals, while the other, generally shorter set, faces the sepals. The filaments are connate, producing a small staminal tube basally. Each petal has a ventral three-lobed, ligule-like nectariferous appendage placed on the claw's tip. The ligules of the five petals are upright and, while not united, overlap to form an erect tube. The ovary is superior, three celled, with one erect ovule in each cell, only one of which is typically viable. Pistil with carpel three and united, ovary three-chambered (Ganders, 1979; AP, 2014). The flowers mature into red berries (AP, 2014).
Plant Source Foods
Published in Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy, Food and Lifestyle in Health and Disease, 2022
Chuong Pham-Huy, Bruno Pham Huy
The list of chemicals obtained from plants and used as medicines is extensive. They are often secondary metabolites of plants including different chemical groups such as flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, glycosides, phenolics, and so on. They are used in modern therapy as well as in traditional medicine (304–306). For example, quinine, an anti-malaria alkaloid, is extracted from the cinchona barks. Digoxin and digitoxin, two cardio-tonic glycosides, are isolated from the plants Digitalis lanata and purpurea, respectively. Morphine and codeine, two alkaloids used as strong analgesic and antitussive drugs, respectively, are obtained from the opium poppy latex. Cocaine, an alkaloid used as local anesthetic, is isolated from Erythroxylum coca leaves. Atropine, an alkaloid used as anticholinergic, is obtained from Atropa belladonna leaves. Paclitaxel or TaxolR, a diterpenoid with strong anticancer activity found in recent years, is isolated from Taxus brevifolia and bacata, a Pacific yew. Despite their toxicity, these drugs are still used today because of their high therapeutic efficacy (304). Other compounds often present in our habitual foods such as menthol from mint leaves, theobromine and theophylline from cocoa and tea, beta-glucan from oat and yeast, and so on, also have therapeutic activity. They are both food and medicine.
Substance use disorders: diagnosis and management for hospitalists
Published in Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives, 2020
Ahmed K. Pasha, Arnab Chowdhury, Sanah Sadiq, Jeremiah Fairbanks, Shirshendu Sinha
Cocaine is a powerful stimulant drug that is derived from the leaves of the Erythroxylum coca plant native to South America. Common street names of this drug include: Blow, Coke, Crack, Rock or Snow. Cocaine has also been combined with other psychoactive drugs that include opioids and stimulant amphetamines. Illicit cocaine is available in two forms: Cocaine salt and Cocaine base (crack, free base). Users can snort cocaine salt through the nose or rub it into their gums. Cocaine base can be heated to produce vapors that are inhaled into the lungs. The water-soluble form of cocaine can be injected intravenously as well. Cocaine’s effect occurs almost immediately and dissipates quickly in a few minutes to an hour. As per the results of a national survey on drug use and health in 2016, there were an estimated 1.9 million people aged 12 or older (corresponding to 0.7% of the population older than 12 years) who currently used cocaine. This estimate was similar to the estimates of cocaine users between 2007 and 2015 but lower than the estimates from 2002 to 2006 [33,34].