Herbs and plantsCinchona bark — the bitter medicine that changed world history?
- Henryk Różański — Kora chinowa – Cortex Cinchonae i chinina
- Henryk Różański — Wybrane preparaty roślinne w leczeniu arytmii serca (Antiarrhythmica).
- Paul Clayton — Twoje oszukane serce
- Cinchona bark and quinine in the Portuguese official pharmacopoeias (1794-2001). · Pharmazie 2022
- Quinine in Otology and Neurotology: Ototoxicity and Historic Role in Therapy. · Otol Neurotol 2021
- Reflections on quinine and its importance in dermatology today. · Clin Dermatol 2021
- [In the wake of Alphonse Laveran]. · Med Trop Sante Int 2023
- What Historical Records Teach Us about the Discovery of Quinine. · Am J Trop Med Hyg 2023
- Quinine for cramps. · Aust Fam Physician 1998
Cinchona bark was used for fever, loss of appetite and digestive problems, as well as for gargling and dressing wounds.
- The bark was also used to make bitter, tonic, astringent and antiseptic preparations, and to protect the skin from UV rays.
- It was also used for weak labor pains; quinine tannate was once given to children for whooping cough and used for diarrhea.
- In the past, quinine, cinchona tincture and powdered cinchona bark were also used to treat heart rhythm disorders.
What the authors write
Cinchona bark was used to make bitter, tonic, astringent, antiseptic and fever-reducing preparations.
Bark extracts were used for inflammation of the throat and mouth, indigestion, exhaustion, weakness and chlorosis.
A bark decoction and tincture were also used as compresses for wounds, pressure sores and skin ulcers, while cinchona water was rubbed into the scalp for hair loss.
Bark preparations were used for colds, fever, influenza, weakness, loss of appetite, indigestion, intestinal catarrh, diarrhea, anemia and menstrual disorders.
Quinine was used for malaria, especially to prevent daily attacks and tertian malaria.
Quinine hydrochloride was used for neuralgia, malaria, weak labor pains and bleeding during childbirth; it was also used as a fever reducer and painkiller.
Quinine tannate was once given to children with whooping cough and was used for diarrhea.
In the past, quinine, cinchona tincture and powdered cinchona bark were also used to treat arrhythmia.
Quinine was more effective against malaria, while quinidine was more effective for heart rhythm disorders.
Research from PubMed · Europe PMC
We selected 6 studies with the best, positive results. This is a selection, not a full review of all research.
Total number of studies on this topic in PubMed: 86.
Cinchona bark and quinine were used to treat intermittent fevers.
Aim of the study: Cinchona bark (bark from plants of the genus Cinchona with antimalarial activity) and its alkaloid quinine were widely used to treat intermittent fevers. This paper aims to quantitatively analyze the presence of Cinchona bark, quinine and other Cinchona bark-derived substances in the Portuguese official pharmacopoeias published between 1794 and 2001.
Results: The analysis showed that the Pharmacopêa Portugueza (1876) is the Portuguese official pharmacopeia with the highest percentage of medicines containing Cinchona bark (2.61%). The Farmacopeia Portuguesa IV (1935) is the official pharmacopeia with the highest percentage of quinine-containing medicines (2.34%). Medicines made from Cinchona bark are present in the Portuguese official pharmacopoeias until the Farmacopeia Portuguesa IV (1946). Medicines made from quinine have been present in Portuguese official pharmacopoeias since the Codigo Pharmaceutico Lusitano (1835).
“Not stated” does not mean nobody paid — the database does not always record it.
Quinine was used for disorders of the ear and balance system, among other things as a painkiller.
Aim of the study: Quinine, a cinchona bark-derived antimalarial alkaloid, is a known ototoxic. Isolated and named in 1820 by the French scientists Pierre-Joseph Pelletier and Joseph-Bienaimé Caventou, it has since been employed in the treatment of different maladies. Quinine was also recommended as a local anesthetic in surgical procedures in the early 20th century.
Results: The first identified reference to quinine ototoxicity dates from 1824. Quinine also had a therapeutic role in otology and neurotology and was used for its pain-relieving properties. It was used for Ménière's disease, vertigo, earache, purulent otitis media, neuralgia of the tympanic plexus, boils in the ear canal and herpes zoster of the auricle. Quinine was recognized as an ototoxic drug in the 19th century. It was used for several ear disorders, both as a painkiller (for herpes zoster and earache) and as a treatment (for Ménière's disease, vertigo, purulent otitis media and boils in the ear canal). This research shows that, as with gentamicin, quinine was used for Ménière's disease specifically because of its ototoxic effects.
“Not stated” does not mean nobody paid — the database does not always record it.
Quinine was used, among other things, as a fever reducer and painkiller, and to treat malaria.
Aim of the study: Quinine and its D-isomer quinidine have been used medically in Europe since the 1600s. They were originally found within the bark of the cinchona tree in the jungle of the Andes.
Results: Quinine is available without a prescription in many countries and is present in tonic water. Many users believe it is beneficial and harmless, and consider it a food supplement. In the past, dermatologists were often the first to recognize disease caused by these drugs because of early signs such as dermatitis or petechiae. Although medical use of these drugs has declined markedly, drug eruptions may still be caused by quinine, and patients may not even know they are taking it.
“Not stated” does not mean nobody paid — the database does not always record it.
Cinchona bark and quinine were used to treat malaria.
Aim of the study: Alphonse Laveran (Nobel Prize 1907) played a pioneering role in discovering the cause of malaria, a disease that has existed since time immemorial and was long associated with the miasma theory, until the end of the 19th century. In 1880, this little-known military doctor discovered the role of a blood parasite in malaria, which was named Plasmodium.
Results: This was the first protozoan to be discovered as the cause of an infectious disease, at a time when bacteria were the main suspects. This major discovery led Ronald Ross (Nobel Prize 1902) and Battista Grassi to identify the role of mosquitoes in spreading malaria. The recurrence of malaria attacks over many years remained an enigma for a long time, and was explained only after the Second World War with the discovery of the exo-erythrocytic cycle of Plasmodium. Treatment then progressed from cinchona bark, quinine and chloroquine to the discovery of artemisinin in 1972 by the Chinese researcher Tu Youyou (Nobel Prize 2015).
“Not stated” does not mean nobody paid — the database does not always record it.
Cinchona bark was used to treat malaria and malaria-like fevers.
Aim of the study: The origin of quinine from Peru remains a mystery because of the lack of primary data, particularly records produced by the Jesuits working in Peru. The discovery of cinchona bark and its use in treating malaria must have come from the Jesuits, who worked with the native Andeans, the Quichuan people, and learned how the bark of the cinchona tree could be used for chills.
Results: One clue comes from the Jesuits, who spoke with the Andean people and learned about quinine. But was it used for fever? Why did the Jesuits test it against tertian or quartan fevers, which may have been caused by malaria? This gap in our knowledge can only be filled by discovering written Jesuit documents about the use of quinine for malaria.
“Not stated” does not mean nobody paid — the database does not always record it.
Quinine was used for malarial fever and, in Western countries, also for muscle cramps.
Aim of the study: The bark of the cinchona tree was used by the Incas of South America to treat tropical fevers. It was brought back to Europe by Jesuit priests and mistakenly used to treat all types of fever. Because it was expensive and hard to obtain, apothecaries found an alternative fever reducer in willow bark. Salicylates were later isolated from willow and quinine from cinchona bark.
“Not stated” does not mean nobody paid — the database does not always record it.
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