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Morphine is highly addictive and prone to abuse. [12] If one's dose is reduced after long-term use, opioid withdrawal symptoms may occur. [12] Caution is advised for the use of morphine during pregnancy or breastfeeding, as it may affect the health of the baby. [12] [2] Morphine was first isolated in 1804 by German pharmacist Friedrich Sertürner.
Morphine. Synthesis of morphine-like alkaloids in chemistry describes the total synthesis of the natural morphinan class of alkaloids that includes codeine, morphine, oripavine, and thebaine and the closely related semisynthetic analogs methorphan, buprenorphine, hydromorphone, hydrocodone, isocodeine, naltrexone, nalbuphine, oxymorphone, oxycodone, and naloxone.
In contrast to natural morphine, the unnatural enantiomer has no affinity or efficacy for the mu opioid receptor and therefore has no analgesic effects. To the contrary, in rats, (+)-morphine acts as an antianalgesic and is approximately 71,000 times more potent as an antianalgesic than (−)-morphine is as an analgesic.
Alkaloid production in plants appeared to have evolved in response to feeding by herbivorous animals; however, some animals have evolved the ability to detoxify alkaloids. [169] Some alkaloids can produce developmental defects in the offspring of animals that consume but cannot detoxify the alkaloids.
Morphine was not only the first alkaloid to be extracted from opium, but the first ever alkaloid to be isolated from any plant. Thus Sertürner became the first person to isolate the active ingredient associated with a medicinal plant or herb. [1] [7] [2] The branch of science that he originated has since become known as alkaloid chemistry. [2]
The morphine content of these capsules was 0.15 - 0.34%, comparable to domestic Swedish capsules not lanced. In India, poppy straw from lanced capsules had a morphine content of at least 0.2%. These levels of morphine obtained from "exhausted" plants suggests that for producers of licit opium, poppy straw may be a profitable second crop. [6]
Poppies are herbaceous plants, often grown for their colourful flowers. One species of poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the source of the narcotic drug mixture opium, which contains powerful medicinal alkaloids such as morphine and has been used since ancient times as an analgesic and narcotic medicinal and recreational drug. It also produces ...
The psychoactive compounds found in the opium plant include morphine, codeine, and thebaine (figure below is wrong, thebaine is "3,6-Dimethoxy-"). Opiates have long been used for a variety of medical conditions, with evidence of opiate trade and use for pain relief as early as the eighth century AD. [ 4 ]