The action of the cinchona and certain other alkaloids in bird malaria. Pt. 2 / by G.A.H. Buttle, T.A. Henry and J.W. Trevan.

  • Buttle, G. A. H. (Gladwin Albert Hurst), 1899-1983.
Date:
[1934]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The action of the cinchona and certain other alkaloids in bird malaria. Pt. 2 / by G.A.H. Buttle, T.A. Henry and J.W. Trevan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    4/22
    LXI. THE ACTION OF THE CINCHONA AND CERTAIN OTHER ALKALOIDS IN BIRD MALARIA. II. By GLADWIN ALBERT HURST BUTTLE, THOMAS ANDERSON HENRY and JOHN WILLIAM TREVAN. From the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories, London, and the Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories, Beckenham, Kent. (Received February 16th, 1934.) In the previous paper [Goodson et ad., 1930], it was shown that Roehl’s method of investigating the relative therapeutic efficiencies of antimalarial drugs, by trial in bird malaria, might prove sufficiently delicate to show quantitative differences in action between the eight principal alkaloids of cinchona bark, viz. Z-quinine, Z-cinchonidine, cLquinidine, ^-cinchonine (which may conveniently be called the primary cinchona alkaloids) and the reduction products yielded by each of these four bases. In these reduction products the vinyl side-chain of each parent alkaloid is reduced to an ethyl group: they are therefore dihydro¬ derivatives and are so named throughout this paper. Commercially they are known as hydro quinine, hydro cinchonine, etc. The determination of the relative antimalarial values of the several cinchona alkaloids has now assumed greater practical importance owing to the intro¬ duction, by the Health Organisation of the League of Nations, of “totaquina,” a product designed as an economical substitute for quinine in the mass treatment of indigent, malarial populations. “Totaquina” is defined [Malaria Commission, League of Nations, 1931], as a mixture of cinchona alkaloids containing a minimum of 15 % of quinine and 70 % of crystallisable cinchona alkaloids, with a maximum of 20 % of amorphous cinchona alkaloids, 5 % of moisture and 5 % of ash. This innovation, based on the view that there is not a great deal to choose between the crystalline cinchona alkaloids as antimalarial drugs, does not meet with universal acceptance among malariologists, but the opinion of the majority is probably not unfairly represented by the following quotation: “There is no conclusive evidence to show that any one of the crystallisable alkaloids is so markedly superior to any other as to justify its exclusive use in ordinary cases of malaria in preference to any other, taking into account the shortage of these alkaloids and their cost” [Sinton, 1930]. The misgivings aroused by proposals to substitute for quinine any one of the secondary cinchona alkaloids, or of mixtures such as “totaquina,” may be indicated by the following quotation: “En premier lieu il etait necessaire de demontrer que la malaria pent etre guerie au moyen des alcaloides mineurs. Nous n’avons pas besoin d’insister sur ce point qui est, pensons nous, universellement admis. “ En second lieu il etait necessaire de donner des preceptes nets au sujet de la fagon dont ces alcaloides doivent etre appliques pour donner le degre de securite auquel on etait habitue par un emploi pendant presqu’un siecle de la quinine. Il fallait etablir (a) a quelles exigences de purete les nouvelles preparations a