DRUGS AND MEDICINES ?• FROM CHEMISTRY POINT OF VIEW, THERE IS NO DISTINCTION BETWEEN THE

TERMS DRUGS AND MEDICINES, i.e, ALL DRUGS ARE MEDICINES AND ALL

MEDICINES ARE DRUGS. HOWEVER, OUR SOCIETY AND LAW MAKE A CLEAR-CUT

DISTINCTION BETWEEN THESE TWO TERMS AS FOLLOW:

A MEDICINE IS A CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE WHICH CURES THE

DISEASE, IS SAFE TO USE, HAS NEGLIGIBLE TOXICITY AND DOES

NOT ADDICTION. IN CONTRAST, A DRUG IS A CHEMICAL

SUBSTANCE WHICH ALSO CURES THE DISEASE BUT IS HABIT

FORMING, CAUSES ADDICTION AND HAS SERIOUS SIDE EFFECTS

MAIN RESEARCH TOPIC- NICOTINE • NICOTINE IS A POTENT PARASYMPATHOMIMETIC ALKALOID

FOUND IN THE NIGHTSHADE FAMILY OF PLANTS

(SOLANACEAE) AND A STIMULANT DRUG. IT IS A NICOTINIC

ACETYLCHOLINE RECEPTOR AGONIST. IT IS MADE IN THE

ROOTS AND ACCUMULATES IN THE LEAVES OF THE PLANTS. IT

CONSTITUTES APPROXIMATELY 0.6–3.0% OF THE DRY WEIGHT

OF TOBACCO AND IS PRESENT IN THE RANGE OF 2–7 µG/KG OF

VARIOUS EDIBLE PLANTS. IT FUNCTIONS AS AN

ANTIHERBIVORE CHEMICAL; THEREFORE, NICOTINE WAS

WIDELY USED AS AN INSECTICIDE IN THE PAST.

• ACCORDING TO THE AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION, NICOTINE ADDICTION HAS HISTORICALLY BEEN

ONE OF THE HARDEST ADDICTIONS TO BREAK, WHILE THE PHARMACOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL

CHARACTERISTICS THAT DETERMINE TOBACCO ADDICTION ARE SIMILAR TO THOSE DETERMINING

ADDICTION TO HEROIN AND COCAINE. THE NICOTINE CONTENT OF POPULAR AMERICAN-BRAND

CIGARETTES HAS SLOWLY INCREASED OVER THE YEARS, AND ONE STUDY FOUND THAT THERE WAS AN

AVERAGE INCREASE OF 1.78% PER YEAR BETWEEN THE YEARS OF 1998 AND 2005. THIS WAS FOUND FOR

ALL MAJOR MARKET CATEGORIES OF CIGARETTES.

• RESEARCH IN 2011 HAS FOUND THAT NICOTINE INHIBITS CHROMATIN-MODIFYING ENZYMES; THIS

INHIBITION HAS BEEN SHOWN TO INCREASE THE ABILITY OF COCAINE TO CAUSE AN ADDICTION

HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF NAME• NICOTINE IS NAMED AFTER THE TOBACCO PLANT NICOTIANA TABACUM,

WHICH IN TURN IS NAMED AFTER THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR

INPORTUGAL, JEAN NICOT DE VILLEMAIN, WHO SENT TOBACCO AND

SEEDS TO PARIS IN 1560, AND WHO PROMOTED THEIR MEDICINAL USE.

• THE TOBACCO AND SEEDS WERE BROUGHT TO AMBASSADOR NICOT

FROM BRAZIL BY LUIS DE GOIS, A PORTUGUESE COLONIST IN SÃO

PAULO. NICOTINE WAS FIRST ISOLATED FROM THE TOBACCO PLANT IN

1828 BY PHYSICIAN WILHELM HEINRICH POSSELT AND CHEMIST KARL

LUDWIG REIMANN OF GERMANY, WHO CONSIDERED IT A POISON.

• ITS CHEMICAL EMPIRICAL FORMULA WAS DESCRIBED BY MELSENS IN

1843,ITS STRUCTURE WAS DISCOVERED BY ADOLF PINNER AND

RICHARD WOLFFENSTEIN IN 1893, AND IT WAS FIRST SYNTHESIZED BY

AMÉ PICTET AND A. ROTSCHY IN 1904.

CHEMISTRY OF NICOTINENICOTINE IS A HYGROSCOPIC, OILY LIQUID THAT IS MISCIBLE WITH WATER IN ITS BASE FORM. AS A

NITROGENOUS BASE, NICOTINE FORMS SALTS WITH ACIDS THAT ARE USUALLY SOLID AND WATER

SOLUBLE, FOR EXAMPLE NICOTINE SULFATE WHICH, BEING A SOLID, IS EASIER TO HANDLE IN ITS

USE AS AN INSECTICIDE. (FOR RETAIL USE IT IS SOLD AS SOLUTION IN WATER READY FOR

SPRAYING.) ITS FLASH POINT IS 95°C AND ITS AUTO-IGNITION TEMPERATURE IS 244°C.

IUPAC NAME , CHEMICAL & PHYSICAL DATA• IUPAC NAME OF NICOTINE IS- 3-(-1-METHYLPYRROLIDIN-2-YL ) PYRIDINE)

• FORMULA C10 H14 N2

• MOL. MASS 162.12 G/MOL

• DENSITY 1.01 G/CM³

• MELT. POINT -79 °C (-110 °F)

• BOILING POINT 247 °C (477 °F)

STRUCTURE OF NICOTINE

HOW BENEFICIAL IS NICOTINE OR CIGARETTE???

PSYCHOACTIVE EFFECTS• NICOTINE'S MOOD-ALTERING EFFECTS ARE DIFFERENT BY REPORT: IN PARTICULAR IT IS BOTH A

STIMULANT AND A RELAXANT. FIRST CAUSING A RELEASE OF GLUCOSE FROM THE LIVER AND

EPINEPHRINE(ADRENALINE) FROM THE ADRENAL MEDULLA, IT CAUSES STIMULATION. USERS REPORT

FEELINGS OF RELAXATION, SHARPNESS,CALMNESS, AND ALERTNESS. LIKE ANY STIMULANT, IT MAY

VERY RARELY CAUSE THE OFTEN UNCOMFORTABLE EFFECT OF AKATHISIA. BY REDUCING THEAPPETITE

AND RAISING THE METABOLISM, SOME SMOKERS MAY LOSE WEIGHT AS A CONSEQUENCE.

• WHEN A CIGARETTE IS SMOKED, NICOTINE-RICH BLOOD PASSES FROM THE LUNGS TO THE BRAIN

WITHIN SEVEN SECONDS AND IMMEDIATELY STIMULATES THE RELEASE OF MANY CHEMICAL

MESSENGERS SUCH AS ACETYLCHOLINE etc.

• THIS RELEASE OF NEUROTRANSMITTERS AND HORMONES IS RESPONSIBLE FOR MOST OF NICOTINE'S

EFFECTS. NICOTINE APPEARS TO ENHANCE CONCENTRATION AND MEMORY DUE TO THE INCREASE OF

ACETYLCHOLINE.

• MOST CIGARETTES (IN THE SMOKE INHALED) CONTAIN 1 TO 3 MILLIGRAMS OF NICOTINE.

• RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT, WHEN SMOKERS WISH TO ACHIEVE A STIMULATING EFFECT, THEY TAKE

SHORT QUICK PUFFS, WHICH PRODUCE A LOW LEVEL OF BLOOD NICOTINE.

• THIS STIMULATES NERVE TRANSMISSION. WHEN THEY WISH TO RELAX, THEY TAKE DEEP

PUFFS, WHICH PRODUCE A HIGH LEVEL OF BLOOD NICOTINE, WHICH DEPRESSES THE PASSAGE OF

NERVE IMPULSES, PRODUCING A MILD SEDATIVE EFFECT.

• AT LOW DOSES, NICOTINE POTENTLY ENHANCES THE ACTIONS OF NOREPINEPHRINE AND DOPAMINE

IN THE BRAIN, CAUSING A DRUG EFFECT.

• AT HIGHER DOSES, NICOTINE ENHANCES THE EFFECT, PRODUCING A CALMING, PAIN-KILLING EFFECT.

NICOTINE IS UNIQUE IN COMPARISON TO MOST DRUGS, AS ITS PROFILE CHANGES FROM STIMULANT

TO SEDATIVE/PAIN KILLER IN INCREASING DOSAGES AND USE.

NICOTINE AS INSECTICIDE

NICOTINE SULFATE SOLD FOR USE AS A PESTICIDE IS LABELED

"DANGER," INDICATING THAT IT IS HIGHLY TOXIC.

SIDE EFFECTS OF NICOTINE

SURPRISING FACT

• TOOTHPASTES ALSO CONTAIN SOME AMOUNT OF NICOTINE

• A STUDY BY THE DELHI INSTITUTE OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES AND

RESEARCH (DIPSAR) HAS FOUND THAT MANY OF THE TOOTHPASTE

MANUFACTURERS ARE ADULTERATING TOOTHPASTES AND TOOTHPOWDERS

WITH HIGH QUANTITY OF NICOTINE.

CONCLUDING• NICOTINE IS A VERY POTENT DRUG - HIGHLY ADDICTIVE WHEN

REGULARLY CONSUMED - AND ITS USE SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

• GIVEN THE SERIOUS HEALTH EFFECTS ASSOCIATED WITH CIGARETTE

SMOKING, PRIMARILY MAINTAINED BY THE ADDICTIVE PROPERTIES OF

NICOTINE, THE BEST ADVICE IS NOT TO START.

• NICOTINE IS ONLY FOR USED AS INSECTICIDES, SO ITS BETTER TO BE

USED IT TO KILL INSECTS OR PESTICIDES , NOT HUMAN BEING.

BY-JASHANPREET SINGH

R010113019

B.TECH-CSE-CCVT

UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT, SHILLONG