A Cross Examination of The Pharmaceutical Importance of the Datura Species
JUST A LITTLE INSIGHT
Pharmacy practise / Study involves very many components which includes pharmacognosy.
Pharmacognosy is the branch of pharmacy which deals with the study of drugs or drug substances derived from natural sources.
The American Society of Pharmacognosy defines pharmacognosy as "the study of the physical, chemical, biochemical and biological properties of drugs, drug substances or potential drugs or drug substances of natural origin as well as the search for new drugs from natural sources".
One may want to wonder why I picked interest in the topic, well, I had a health challenge late last year. It was a domestic accident which left me in so much pains, all forms of analgesics were applied, all to no avail.
Then someone told me of Datura leaves which were dried and sold by a natural medicine vendor. I drank some and applied on the pain area, off the pains went like magic!
Datura species is an interesting plant that more people should get to know of for a couple of reasons.
It has many varieties or species which include" Datura metel, Datura stramonium, Datura ferox, Datura hybrida and a whole lot more.
But this article will only focus on Datura metel due to its high pharmaceutical importance.
Source: Datura metel
BIOLOGICAL SOURCES
Pharmaceutically, the biological source of a drug plant refers to the part of the plant which carries the drugs substance or therapeutic effect. It can also be used sparingly to refer to the areas of the world where they can be located or at prevalent.
Datura metel species is a shrub-like annual or perennial herb commonly known as devil's trumpet or simply metel.
The drug consists of the dried leaves and flowering tops of the plant species. It belongs to the plant family solanaceae. It is indigenous to the shores of the Caspian sea and spread throughout Europe. It is also common in Asia, America, South Africa, occurring as a weed growing in waste places.
It is cultivated for drug purposes in Southern England, Germany, France and Hungary.
CULTIVATION AND HARVESTING
Datura is an annual plant tis cultivated from the seeds. The seed is sown thinly in May on a calcareous soil in rows of one meter apart. Abundant farm yard manure is applied and in August, the plant will be about 1 meter high and bearing flowers and young fruits . They die off or wither in October.
The first harvesting of leaves is made by removing the lower leaves about July and the main collection of the upper flowering stem is made around August. The drug is dried rapidly at a temperature of 45 to 50 degree Celsius, a process which requires about 48 hours.
MACROSCOPY
This refers to thr features of the plant which can be seen with the naked eyes.
The dried leaves are grayish-green in colour, thin, twisted, brittle and often broken. Datura has a slight but unpleasant odour and a bitter taste.
The commercial drug contains occasional flowers and young capsules, which contain seeds inside.
CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS AND USES:
These are the features which contain the active pharmaceutical ingredients (API).
The composition of various substances in pharmaceutical products are usually expressed in percentages. The major chemical constituents of the plant includes :
- Hyocyamine(0.25%)
Hyoscyamine is used to provide symptomatic relief to various gastrointestinal disorders including spasms, peptic ulcers, irritable bowel syndrome, diverticulitis, pancreatitis, colic and cystitis. It has also been used to relieve some heart problems, control some of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, as well as for control of respiratory symptoms (mucus secretions in patients with lung disease) "hyper-mucus secretions" and has also been used in palliative care for this purpose.
It may also be useful in pain control for neuropathic pain treated with opioids as it increases the level of analgesia obtained. Several mechanisms are thought to contribute to this effect.
The closely related drugs atropine and Hyoscine and other members of the anticholinergic drug group like cyclobenzaprine, trihexyphenidyl, and orphenadrine are also used for this purpose. When hyoscyamine is used along with opioids or other anti-peristaltic agents, measures to prevent constipation are especially important given the risk of paralytic ileus
Link -
Wikipedia - By Harbin
License CC BY-SA 3.0
2 . Hyoscine(0.45%)
Hyoscine, also known as scopolamine, is a medication used to treat motion sickness and postoperative nausea and vomiting. It is also sometimes used before surgery to decrease saliva.
Link -Wikipedia -
by NEUROtikerLicense CC BY-SA 3.0
- ATROPINE
Atropine is a medication to treat certain types of nerve agent and pesticide poisonings as well as some types of slow heart rate and to decrease saliva production during surgery.
It is typically given intravenously or by injection into a muscle. Eye drops are also available which are used to treat uveitis and early amblyopia. The intravenous solution usually begins working within a minute and lasts half an hour to an hour. Large doses may be required to treat some poisonings
Link -Wikipedia -by JüLicense CC BY-SA 3.0
Link – Wikipedia – by Skirtick License CC BY-SA 4.0
An ampoule containing atropine injection 1mL/0.5mg.
PHARMACEUTICAL USES OF DATURA
• Datura leaves are used to treat pains.
•Atropine has a stimulant effect if the central nervous system and depress the nerve endings to the secretory glands and plain muscle.
• Hyoscine has sedative properties which makes it suitable in the management of motion sickness.
• Atropine and Hyoscine are used in ophthalmic practice to dilate the pupil of the eyes.
CLOSING
This post would have come earlier than now but I was just too engaged with semester examinations here in the faculty of Pharmacy University of Uyo.
I recommend this post to those who still believe in herbal and natural medicines.
REFERENCES
Pharmacy
Pharmacognosy
Datura
Hyosciamine
Hyoscine
Atropine
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