DRUGS for MALARIA 

  QUININE

The properties of the bark of the cinchona tree in the treatment of malaria were first written no later than 1633 by an Augustinian monk, Father Antanio de la Calancha, who lived in Peru. The bark reached Seville, Spain - which had a trade monopoly with Peru - and from there was sent to Rome by the family of Cardinal Joannes de Lugo. Once the bark had reached Rome, requests for the bark became widespread throughout Europe - distributed by the Jesuits, which resulted in elements of religious bigatory and confusion as to its merits. In 1658, Brady, a Professor of Physic, in Cambridge, began prescribing `Jesuits` bark to treat an outbreak of malaria. Robert Talbor, an apprentice to a Cambridge apothecary, moved to Essex and then to London, where he treated malaria patients with the `secret remedy`. In 1672, Talbor wrote a small book "A Rational Account of the Cause and Cure of Agues" but avoided mention of actually having used `Jesuit`s` bark himself. However, thanks to his book, his reputation grew. In 1678, Talbor was knighted by King Charles II and appointed as physician in ordinary to the King. The College of Physicians were angered by this - as Talbor was not, in their eyes, a qualified practitioner. In the same year, Talbor cured the French Dauphin and Queen of Spain of malaria with his `remedy`, but again met with hostility - from physicians in Paris and Madrid. In 1679, King Charles II fell ill with tertain fever and was cured by Talbor`s `remedy`. Louis XIV of France, in recognition of the life of his son being saved, offered Talbor a sizeable sum for the `secret` of his `remedy`. Talbor agreed, on condition, that the formula would not be revealed during his lifetime. Talbor died in 1681, and King Louis arranged for a small volume to published that year - in which was disclosed the formula - large doses of `Jesuits` bark infused in wine. The book was translated into English and published as "The English Remedy: or, Talbor`s Wonderful Secret for Curing Agues and Fevers". These revelations and a subsequent book, in 1712, on the therapeutic properties of the bark, by Fransesco Torti, professor of medicine at Modena, helped to popuarize the use of the treatment. In 1737, Charles-Marie de la Condamine investigated the origins of the bark and obtained specimens. With these, Linnaeus, a Swedish botonist, classified the family of trees from which the barks had come as Cinchona - from the Indian name for the fever bark tree.(1)

Over a century later, with concerns about varying responses to treatment with cinchona bark, Bernadino Gomes attempted isolating the active principle. He extract the bark with dilute acid and then neutralized it with alkali and managed to obtain a few crystals which he named cinchonin (later, to be known as cinchonine). In 1819, Friedlieb Runge isolated a base from cinchona, which he named "China base" - which was different from cinchonine. Shortly afterwards, Pelletier and Caventou repeated Gome`s experiments on cinchona and isolated cinchonine from samples of grey bark. They also isolated an alkaloid - quinine - from yellow bark - which, when its properties were compared, was seen to be identical to "China" base. But Runge`s prior discovery was overlooked(1).

refs

1. Sneader,W. Drug Discovery. John Wiley & Sons. 1985