GC: n
S: BBC – https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20200527-the-tree-that-changed-the-world-map (last access: 27 December 2023); MNT – https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323692 (last access: 27 December 2023).
N: 1. Borrowed from French quinine (1820), with chemical ending -ine, a word-forming element in chemistry, often interchangeable with–in, though modern use distinguishes them; In the early 19th century, French suffix -ine was commonly used to form words for derived substances, hence its extended use in chemistry. It was applied unsystematically at first, but now has more restricted use.
The French suffix is from Latin -ina, feminine form of -inus, suffix used to form adjectives from nouns, and thus is identical with -ine.
From Spanish quina ‘cinchona bark’ (from which it is extracted), from Quechua (Inca) kina.
2. According to the legend, an Indian with a high fever was lost in an Andean jungle. Thirsty, he drank from a pool of stagnant water and found that it tasted bitter. Realizing that the water had been contaminated by the surrounding quina-quina trees he thought he was poisoned. Surprisingly, his fever soon abated, and he shared this accidental discovery with fellow villagers, who thereafter used extracts from the quina-quina bark to treat fever. The legend of quinine’s discovery accepted in Europe differs though, and involves the Spanish Countess of Chinchon who, while in Peru, contracted a fever that was cured by the bark of a tree. Returning to Spain with the bark, she introduced quinine to Europe in 1638 and, in 1742, botanist Carl Linnaeus called the tree “Cinchona” in her honour.
3. The discovery of quinine is considered the most serendipitous medical discovery of the 17th century and malaria treatment with quinine marked the first successful use of a chemical compound to treat an infectious disease. To-date, quinine continues to play a significant role in the management of malaria.
4. It must not be confused with quinidine or kinin. Quinidine is a drug used in the treatment of abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmia) and malaria. Obtained from the bark of the Cinchona tree, quinidine shares many of the pharmacological actions of quinine, i.e., both have antimalarial and fever-reducing activity. The main use of quinidine, however, involves its activity as a myocardial depressant—that is, it depresses the excitability and conduction velocity of nerve impulses and the contractility of the heart muscle. The drug also tends to lower blood pressure. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, and skin rash are common reactions to the use of quinidine. Kinins are oligopeptides that contain the sequence of bradykinin and act mainly as local hormones since they circulate at very low concentrations (1 to 50 fmol/mL) and are rapidly hydrolysed by kininases.
5. Classic tonic water is carbonated water infused with quinine. For added taste sometimes sugar or fruit acids are mixed in. The higher the level of quinine in the water, the more bitter it tastes.
6. In Germany, the addition of quinine is regulated by the German Flavourings Directive, which prohibits adding quinine to any other beverages and all foods. Most European countries have similar restrictions.
7. Quinine is the most important alkaloid among the 25 others found in cinchona bark. As a white powder it actually has no odour, but it fluoresces, or glows, even at ratios of 1:100,000.
8. Cultural Interrelation. We can mention the book Quinine: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure That Changed the World from Fiammetta Rocco (Perenial, 2003).
S: 1. OED – https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=quinine (last access: 27 December 2023). 2. NLM – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121651/ (last access: 27 December 2023). 3. NLM – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3121651/ (last access: 27 December 2023). 4. ENCBRIT – https://www.britannica.com/science/quinidine (last access: 27 December 2023); MDPI – https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8247/13/11/347 (last access: 27 December 2023). 5 to 7. Mixology – https://mixology.eu/seven-facts-about-tonic-water/ (last access: 27 December 2023). 8. GR – https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/349282.Quinine (last access: 27 December 2023).
SYN:
S:
CR: alkaloid, artemisinin, chloroquine, fever, malaria, malaria parasite, protozoa, protozoiasis.
