Morphine, Nicotine, And Caffeine

            

           When we think about the substances morphine, nicotine and caffeine, we tend to make no connection between them, since its uses today are so different and they don’t seem that related. However, these molecules are in fact connected by historic events and its addictive properties have had huge impact on the trades between countries, bringing also pleasure and threats to people.  

            These three molecules have influenced change in the world being the driving force behind the First and Second Opium Wars. The product opium poop had been used for centuries and evidences suggest that it existed in the areas of the first human civilizations.  In China it had also been a respected medicinal herb for a hundreds of years, but with the introduction of tobacco, which was taken the world by storm, the way China saw and used opium completely changed. When China’s emperor banned the smoking of tobacco, the Chinese most probably started to smoke opium in its place, sometimes even mixing it with tobacco. When mixing the morphine of opium and nicotine of tobacco, the effects of this inhaled alkaloid compound was very strong and quick and used in this manner opium was very addictive. Eventually opium was also banned in China, but this gave an opportunity of trades with the European which interest for caffeine in the tea leaves made them turn to China. Until then trading with China had not been very profitable, but now Britain knew the interest for opium in China and seeing that as an opportunity started to take part in the opium business. However when Chinese government destroyed a year supply of opium, Britain saw it has a chance to declare war to China, originating the First Opium War, in which the British won and China had to open Chinese ports for the British trade. Later in the Second Opium War, China lost again and more ports were open ending the isolation period of China, all due to the desire and interaction of these three alkaloid molecules.

            Opium is composed with twenty-four different alkaloids, but its main constituent is the previously mentioned, morphine. The name of this molecule came from the roman god of dreams named Morpheus, since morphine is a narcotic which is able to numb the senses and induce sleep. The chemical structure of morphine was only discovered in 1925, a long time after the discovery of its existence, but the knowledge obtain from the discovery made it possible for the discovery of a lot of other compounds. With the understanding of the chemical structure of morphine and other related compounds in opium, chemists were able to understand that morphine’s ability to relieve pain was related with its addictive properties, because the molecule codeine, which only differs in a side group, had shown to be less addictive but also less powerful at relieving pain. Since morphine had such successful potential, attempts were done to turn morphine into an even stronger analgesic by using the acylation process that had proven to be successful for aspirin. The compound produced was non-other than heroin, which even though it was a very powerful narcotic, and could be used in less quantities, it was also one of the most addictive substances known since it was transported in the blood stream a lot faster than morphine and created a much faster and intense feeling of euphoria. The ability of morphine to relieve pain resides in its similarity to endorphins. The natural pain relievers, endorphins have a unit in their structure named beta-phenylethylamide, which is also found in morphine. This gives the morphine, just like endorphins, the capacity to bind and block a pain receptor in the brain, blocking pain stimulus from passing through. As for the narcotics effects of morphine they are also thought to come from a basic set of structures that can be found in the molecule. The union of four structures originates the morphine rule, since other substances like, codeine, heroin, meperidine, Demerol and methadone, which have these structures in their constitution seem to carry the same narcotic characteristics, which leads us to think that the morphine rule structure is responsible for the narcotic activity.

            Nicotine was the second alkaloid molecule to take part in the Opium Wars situation. This molecule is found in tobacco, substance brought from the New World by Colombo and which quickly spread throughout Europe, and with the demand came the cultivation of its sources. Tobacco was introduced by Spanish and Portuguese in every port they visited during the period of the spice trades, and eventually this product became very popular even though penalties were given in some places for the use of this substance, it didn’t lose its interest and demand could no longer be met with the European plantations, which lead to the creation of new plantations in the New World that once again sustained the slavery. The main alkaloid in tobacco, is as mentioned previously, Nicotine molecule which is capable of stimulate the central nervous system and the heart, but if used in bigger doses it can have the opposite effect and work as a depressant. Nicotine is able to do this due to its ability to imitate and work as neurotransmissor forming a bridge between nerve cells and increasing the rate of the transmission of neurological impulse but because the connection is not cleared between impulses it eventually becomes obstructed and slows everything down.

            Caffeine was the third alkaloid molecule to be involved in the Opium Wars, being the molecule that Britain desired. This molecule is a potent central nervous stimulant which blocks the action of the neuromodulator adenosine, which would decrease the nerve firing slowing the release of neurotransmissors and inducing sleep. By blocking the adenosine by occupying its receptors it stops this induced sleep originating the caffeine buzz. It has been calculated that ten grams of caffeine can be fatal, but its benefits for human health have also been proven, making this molecule loved by many still today. Other molecules like theophylline from tea, and theobromine from cocoa have very similar structures with the caffeine molecule having the same abilities even though their effect is weaker than with caffeine. Caffeine was actually first introduced to Europe through cocoa beans which main production is for chocolate that at the time was named the ‘drink of gods’. This molecule besides having great impacts in the human body has also influenced history in innumerous areas. Important business were done in coffee shops, and countries like Brazil were developed thanks to coffee cultivation and the abolishment of slavery in Brazil was slowed down due to the power of coffee grower, fact that shows the importance that coffee had to nations.

            This three molecules, even though not really similar or related to each other have changed the world we leave in. Even today these molecules are completely indispensable in our lifes. Morphine is very important in medicine, still used as a pain killer and a very valuable discovery to many that suffer from excruciating pains. Nicotine is still as important as in the past, most people in this modern world would not be able to give up nicotine and its precious effects. As for caffeine this is for sure one of the most molecules still today, being part of our daily life and taking part in just only our coffee but in our substances. The authors have done a great job explaining how all this molecules worked and how its properties have slowly molded the world, and I am certain that these molecules are still as important today.