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Sources of Drugs
Drug- (fr. Drogue- dried herbs), medication, and medicament: Substance administered to
humans and animals for diagnosis or treatment of diseases.
Sources of drugs are as follows:
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NSHM COLLEGE OF PHARMACETICAL TECHNOLOGY, NSHM KNOWLEDGE CAMPUS, KOLKATA
By Somnath Mondal, 2010 Pharmacology 5th semester, Sources of Drugs
I. NATURAL SOURCES
A- PLANTS:
Following categories of drugs are derived from roots, leaves or barks of plants:
a) Alkaloids
These are nitrogenous heterocyclic bases, which are pharmacologically active principles
of plants.
They are composed of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and oxygen.
They are bitter in taste and are often poisonous. These are, therefore, used in small doses.
They are insoluble in water. However, they form salts with acids which are soluble in
water.
Some examples of alkaloids and their sources are listed in the table:
ALKALOID SOURCE
Nicotine Tobacco
b) Glycosides
Sugar moiety is not essential for the pharmacological activity but it governs the
pharmacokinetic properties of the glycoside. In the body it may be removed to liberate
aglycone.
Pharmacological activity resides in the non-sugar moiety that is called aglycone (or
genin).
Some examples are digitoxin, digoxin and ouabain.
c) Oils
They are liquids which are insoluble in water. They are of three types and are used for various
medicinal purposes.
i) Essential Oils (or volatile oils): Essential oils are obtained from leaves or flower petals by
steam distillation, and have an aroma.
Some of these oils are solid at room temperature and sublime on heating e.g. menthol and
camphor.
Other examples are clove oil, peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and ginger oil.
ii) Fixed oils are glycerides of stearic, oleic and palmitic acid.
They are obtained from the seeds that are present within the cells as crystals or droplets.
They are non-volatile and leave greasy stains on evaporation.
They have caloric or food value.
They form soaps with alkalies.
On prolonged stay, they become rancid.
They do not have marked pharmacological activity and have little pharmacological use
except castor oil (purgative) or arachis oil (demulcent).
They may be of vegetable origin e.g. olive oil, castor oil, croton oil and peanut oil or of
animal origin e.g. cod liver oil, shark liver oil and lard.
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NSHM COLLEGE OF PHARMACETICAL TECHNOLOGY, NSHM KNOWLEDGE CAMPUS, KOLKATA
By Somnath Mondal, 2010 Pharmacology 5th semester, Sources of Drugs
iii) Mineral Oils are mostly petroleum products and extracted by fractional distillation.
These are mixtures of hydrocarbons of the methane and related aliphatic series.
These are extracted in various consistencies - hard paraffin, soft paraffin and liquid
paraffin.
Hard and soft paraffins are used as vehicles for preparation of ointments while liquid
paraffin is employed as a purgative.
d) Gums are colloidal exudates from plants which are polysaccharides chemically and yield
simple sugars on hydrolysis.
Upon addition of water, some of them swell or dissolve or form adhesive mucilage or
remain unchanged.
Uses:
In gut agar and psyllium seeds act as hydrophilic colloids and function as bulk
purgatives.
Gum acacia and gum tragacanth are used as suspending agents in making emulsions and
mixtures.
e) Resins are ill-defined solid substances found in plants, and are polymers of volatile oil.
Uses:
o Benzoin is used as inhalation in common cold.
o Tincture benzoin is applied as antiseptic protective sealing over bruises.
o Colophony (an oleoresin) is used as an ingredient in various plasters.
o Shellac (from Lucifer lacca) is used for enteric coating of tablets.
o Balsams are used in the treatment of cough and bronchitis for their antiseptic and
protective properties.
o Podophyllum is used as an irritant purgative.
f) Tannins are non-nitrogenous phenolic plant constituents which have an astringent action.
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NSHM COLLEGE OF PHARMACETICAL TECHNOLOGY, NSHM KNOWLEDGE CAMPUS, KOLKATA
By Somnath Mondal, 2010 Pharmacology 5th semester, Sources of Drugs
Pyrocatechol tannins are sugar-free derivatives of catechol that are present in catechu and
eucalyptus.
Tannic acid is tannin that is obtained from oak galls and is used for treating burns and
diarrhoea.
B-ANIMAL SOURCES
Some animal sources continue to be used to procure some modern drugs because of cumbersome
and expensive procedures for the synthesis of such chemicals.
For example:
Insulin, extracted from pork and beef pancreas, is used for the treatment of diabetes
mellitus.
Thyroid powder for treating hypothyroidism.
Heparin is used as an anticoagulant.
Hormones and vitamins are used as replacement therapy.
Vaccines (cholera, T.B., smallpox, polio and antirabic) and sera (antidiptheria and
antitetanus) are used for prophylaxis/treatment.
C-MICROBIOLOGICAL SOURCES
Many life-saving drugs are obtained from fungi, moulds and bacteria e.g. penicillin from
Penicillium notatum, chloramphenicol from Streptomyces venezuelae, grisofulvin (an anti-
fungal drug) from Penicillium griseofulvum, neomycin from Streptomyces fradiae and
streptomycin from Streptomyces griseus.
D-MINERAL SOURCES
Sometimes semi-synthetic processes are used to prepare drugs when the synthesis of drugs
(complex molecules) may be difficult, expensive and uneconomical or when the natural sources
may yield impure compounds. In these situation this methods plays an important role.
Some examples are semi synthetic human insulin and 6-aminopenicillanic acid derivatives.
Prepared by chemically modifying substances that are available from natural source improve to
improve its potency, efficacy and also reduce side effects.
At present majority of drugs used in clinical practice are prepared synthetically, such as aspirin,
oral antidiabetics, antihistamines, amphetamine, chloroquine, chlorpromazine, general and local
anaesthetics, paracetamol, phenytoin, synthetic corticosteroids, sulphonamides and thiazide
diuretics.
Most of the synthetic drugs are prepared synthetically i.e. by chemical process ( reaction) with
the help of the knowledge of phytochemical investigation.
Alterations are made on the naturally found structure of the drug to improve its effect and
to improve the finances of pharmaceutical companies.
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NSHM COLLEGE OF PHARMACETICAL TECHNOLOGY, NSHM KNOWLEDGE CAMPUS, KOLKATA
By Somnath Mondal, 2010 Pharmacology 5th semester, Sources of Drugs
Since the pharmacological activity of a drug depends on its chemical structure and
physical properties, more effective and safer drugs can be prepared by modifying the
chemical structure of the prototype drug.
This is relatively a new field which is being developed by mixing discoveries from molecular
biology, recombinant DNA technology, DNA alteration, gene splicing, immunology and
immunopharmacology.
Some of the recent developments are genetically engineered novel vaccines (Recombinex HB - a
hepatitis-B vaccine), recombinant DNA engineered insulins (Humulin- human insulin) for
diabetes and interferon-alpha-2a and interferon-alpha-2b for hairy cell leukaemia.
Genetic material (DNA) The responsible gene that This gene is removed
extracted from Hepatitis directs the surface protein from virus DNA and
virus. production is then located. inserted into
“plasmid”.
Genetic manipulation of nonpathogenic, rapidly growing bacteria, such a E. Coli, to enable them
to manufacture complex biological compounds that would be extremely difficult or costly to
prepare by conventional means.
Recently chemists have developed computer programs to facilitate the design of new drugs.
These programs help design chemicals that fit to the 3-D conformation of the receptor……
Crude-
Pure- ?
Pharmaceuticals-
Drug Preparations
Drying, pulverizing
Morphine, Insulin
Pharmaceutical preparations
A crude drug preparation retains most or all of the active and inactive compounds contained in the
natural source from which it was derived. After a pure drug compound (e.g., morphine) is extracted
from a crude drug preparation (in this case, opium), it is possible to manufacture pharmaceutical
preparations that are suitable for administration of a particular dose to the patient.
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NSHM COLLEGE OF PHARMACETICAL TECHNOLOGY, NSHM KNOWLEDGE CAMPUS, KOLKATA
By Somnath Mondal, 2010 Pharmacology 5th semester, Sources of Drugs
Expected Question??
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NSHM COLLEGE OF PHARMACETICAL TECHNOLOGY, NSHM KNOWLEDGE CAMPUS, KOLKATA