This document provides a summary of a biology investigatory project on drug abuse, action mechanisms, and treatment. It includes an index, certificate of completion, acknowledgements, objectives, and sections on various drugs including alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, methamphetamine, cannabis, heroin and a bibliography. The sections on each drug provide an overview of its effects, both short and long term, and its mechanism of action in the brain.
This document provides a summary of a biology investigatory project on drug abuse, action mechanisms, and treatment. It includes an index, certificate of completion, acknowledgements, objectives, and sections on various drugs including alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, methamphetamine, cannabis, heroin and a bibliography. The sections on each drug provide an overview of its effects, both short and long term, and its mechanism of action in the brain.
Original Description:
Biology Investigatory Project on drug action and mechanism
This document provides a summary of a biology investigatory project on drug abuse, action mechanisms, and treatment. It includes an index, certificate of completion, acknowledgements, objectives, and sections on various drugs including alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, methamphetamine, cannabis, heroin and a bibliography. The sections on each drug provide an overview of its effects, both short and long term, and its mechanism of action in the brain.
This document provides a summary of a biology investigatory project on drug abuse, action mechanisms, and treatment. It includes an index, certificate of completion, acknowledgements, objectives, and sections on various drugs including alcohol, cocaine, nicotine, methamphetamine, cannabis, heroin and a bibliography. The sections on each drug provide an overview of its effects, both short and long term, and its mechanism of action in the brain.
1 Certificate This is to certify that this Biology Investigatory project on the topic ‘Drug Abuse, Action mechanism and Treatment’ has been successfully completed by Devansh Takkar of class XII-B under the guidance of Mrs. Kriti Bajaj. In particular fulfillment of curriculum of CBSE leading to the award of Annual Examination of the year 2019-2020.
2 Acknowledgement I have taken efforts in this project. However, It would have been impossible without the support and efforts of many individuals. I would like to thank my Principal Mr. Paramjit Singh and school for providing me with facilities required to de my project. I am highly indebted to my biology teacher Mrs. Kriti Bajaj for her invaluable guidance which has sustained my efforts in all the stages of this project work. I would also like to thank my Parents for their continuous support and encouragement. My thanks and appreciation also go to my fellow classmates and the laboratory assistant in developing the project and to the people who have willingly helped me out with their abilities.
3 Objective
To study drugs, their Effects and Mechanism of Action
4 What are Drugs? A drug is any substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs may be legal (e.g. alcohol, caffeine and tobacco) or illegal (e.g. cannabis, ecstasy, cocaine and heroin).
What causes drug addiction?
Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person's brain and behavior and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medication. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine also are considered drugs. When you're addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes. Drug addiction can start with experimental use of a recreational drug in social situations, and, for some people, the drug use becomes more frequent. For others, particularly with opioids, drug addiction begins with exposure to prescribed medications, or receiving medications from a friend or relative who has been prescribed the medication. As time passes, you may need larger doses of the drug to get high. Soon you may need the drug just to feel good. As your drug use increases, you may find that it's increasingly difficult to go without the drug. Attempts to stop drug use may cause intense cravings and make you feel physically ill (withdrawal symptoms)
5 Alcohol Overview Alcohol, also known by its chemical name ethanol, is a psychoactive substance that is the active ingredient in drinks such as beer, wine, and distilled spirits (hard liquor). It is one of the oldest and most common recreational substances, causing the characteristic effects of alcohol intoxication ("drunkenness"). Among other effects, alcohol produces a mood lift and euphoria, decreased anxiety, increased sociability, sedation, impairment of cognitive, memory, motor, and sensory function, and generalized depression of central nervous system function. Alcohol has been produced and consumed by humans for its psychoactive effects for almost 10,000 years. Drinking alcohol is generally socially acceptable and is legal in most countries, unlike with many other recreational substances. However, there are often restrictions on alcohol sale and use, for instance a minimum age for drinking and laws against public drinking and drinking and driving.
Effects Central nervous system impairment Gastrointestinal effects Brain damage Liver diseases Cancer and Birth defects
6 Mechanism of Action
The Chemical Breakdown of Alcohol
The chemical name for alcohol is ethanol (CH3CH2OH). The body
processes and eliminates ethanol in separate steps. Chemicals called enzymes help to break apart the ethanol molecule into other compounds (or metabolites), which can be processed more easily by the body. Some of these intermediate metabolites can have harmful effects on the body. Most of the ethanol in the body is broken down in the liver by an enzyme called alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH), which transforms ethanol into a toxic compound called acetaldehyde (CH3CHO), a known carcinogen. However, acetaldehyde is generally short-lived; it is quickly broken down to a less toxic compound called acetate (CH3COO-) by another enzyme called aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). Acetate then is broken down to carbon dioxide and water, mainly in tissues other than the liver.
Alcohol works in the brain primarily by increasing the effects
of a neurotransmitter called γ-aminobutyric acid, or GABA. This is the major inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, and by facilitating its actions, alcohol suppresses the activity of the central nervous system. The substance also directly affects a number of other neurotransmitter systems including those of glutamate, glycine, acetylcholine, and serotonin. The
7 pleasurable effects of alcohol ingestion are the result of increased levels of dopamine and endogenous opioids in the reward pathways of the brain.
Cocaine Overview Cocaine, also known as coke, is a strong stimulant mostly used as a recreational drug. It is commonly snorted, inhaled as smoke, or dissolved and injected into a vein. Mental effects may include loss of contact with reality, an intense feeling of happiness, or agitation. Effects begin within seconds to minutes of use and last between five and ninety minutes. Cocaine has a small number of accepted medical uses such as numbing and decreasing bleeding during nasal surgery. Cocaine is the second most frequently used illegal drug globally, after cannabis. Between 14 and 21 million people use the drug each year. Use is highest in North America followed by Europe and South America. Between one and three percent of people in the developed world have used cocaine at some point in their life. In 2013, cocaine use directly resulted in 4,300 deaths, up from 2,400 in 1990. Cocaine was first isolated from the leaves in 1860.Since 1961, the international Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs has required countries to make recreational use of cocaine a crime.
Effects SHORT TERM:
8 Increased heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature Disturbed sleep patterns Hallucinations, hyper excitability, irritability Nausea Intense drug craving LONG TERM:
Depression Intense drug craving Respiratory failure if smoked Severe tooth decay Sexual problems, reproductive damage and infertility (for both men and women)
Mechanism of Action The brain’s mesolimbic dopamine system, its reward pathway, is stimulated by all types of reinforcing stimuli, such as food, sex, and many drugs of abuse, including cocaine. This pathway originates in a region of the midbrain called the ventral tegmental area and extends to the nucleus accumbens, one of the brain’s key reward areas.
9 In the normal communication process, dopamine is released by a neuron into the synapse (the small gap between two neurons), where it binds to specialized proteins called dopamine receptors on the neighboring neuron. By this process, dopamine acts as a chemical messenger, carrying a signal from neuron to neuron.
Cocaine in the brain: In the normal neural communication
process, dopamine is released by a neuron into the synapse, where it can bind to dopamine receptors on neighboring neurons. Normally, dopamine is then recycled back into the transmitting neuron by a specialized protein called the dopamine transporter. If cocaine is present, it attaches to the dopamine transporter and blocks the normal recycling process, resulting in a buildup of dopamine in the synapse, which contributes to the pleasurable effects of cocaine.
10 Nicotine Overview Nicotine dependence ― also called tobacco dependence ― is an addiction to tobacco products caused by the drug nicotine. Nicotine dependence means you can't stop using the substance, even though it's causing you harm. Nicotine produces physical and mood-altering effects in your brain that are temporarily pleasing. These effects make you want to use tobacco and lead to dependence. At the same time, stopping tobacco use causes withdrawal symptoms, including irritability and anxiety. While it's the nicotine in tobacco that causes nicotine dependence, the toxic effects of tobacco result from other substances in tobacco. Smokers have much higher rates of heart disease, stroke and cancer than nonsmokers do.
Effects Lung cancer and other lung diseases Heart and circulatory system problems Diabetes Infertility and impotence Pregnancy and newborn complications Teeth and gum disease Eye problems
11 Mechanism of Action Traditional cigarettes are the most common delivery device for nicotine.[citation needed]. Nicotine can also be delivered via other tobacco products such as chewing tobacco, snus, pipe tobacco, hookah, all of which can produce nicotine dependence.
Nicotine is a stimulant drug that acts as an agonist at nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. These are ionotropic receptors composed up of five homomeric or heteromeric subunits. In the brain, nicotine binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on dopaminergic neurons in the cortico-limbic pathways. This causes the channel to open and allow conductance of multiple cations including sodium, calcium, and potassium. This leads to depolarization, which activates voltage-gated calcium channels and allows more calcium to enter the axon terminal. Calcium stimulates vesicle trafficking towards the plasma membrane and the release of dopamine into the synapse. Dopamine binding to its receptors is responsible the euphoric and addictive properties of nicotine. Nicotine also binds to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors on the chromaffin cells in the adrenal medulla. Binding opens the ion channel allowing influx of sodium, causing depolarization of the cell, which activates voltage-gated calcium channels. Calcium triggers the release of epinephrine from intracellular vesicles into the bloodstream, which causes vasoconstriction, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, and increased blood sugar.
12 Methamphetamine Overview Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive stimulant that affects the central nervous system. Crystal methamphetamine is a form of the drug that looks like glass fragments or shiny, bluish-white rocks. It is chemically similar to amphetamine, a drug used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy, a sleep disorder. Other common names for methamphetamine include blue, crystal, ice, meth, and speed.
Effects
13 extreme weight loss severe dental problems ("meth mouth") intense itching, leading to skin sores from scratching anxiety changes in brain structure and function sleeping problems violent behavior paranoia—extreme and unreasonable distrust of others Hallucinations—sensations and images that seem real though they aren't.
14 Mechanism of Action
In contrast to cocaine, which is quickly removed from and
almost completely metabolized in the body, methamphetamine has a much longer duration of action, and a larger percentage of the drug remains unchanged in the body. Methamphetamine therefore remains in the brain longer, which ultimately leads to prolonged stimulant effects. Although both methamphetamine and cocaine increase levels of dopamine, administration of methamphetamine in animal studies leads to much higher levels of dopamine, because nerve cells respond differently to the two drugs. Cocaine prolongs dopamine actions in the brain by blocking the re-absorption (re-uptake) of the neurotransmitter by signaling nerve cells. At low doses, methamphetamine also blocks the re-uptake of dopamine, but it also increases the release of dopamine, leading to much higher concentrations
15 in the synapse (the gap between neurons), which can be toxic to nerve terminals.
Cannabis/Weed/ Marijuana Overview Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the Cannabis plant used for medical or recreational purposes. The main psychoactive part of cannabis is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), one of 483 known compounds in the plant,[20] including at least 65 other cannabinoids. Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.
Effects Pregnancy: Marijuana is UNSAFE when taken by mouth or smoked during pregnancy. Marijuana passes through the placenta and can slow the growth of the fetus. Marijuana use during pregnancy is also associated with childhood leukemia and abnormalities in the fetus.
16 Heart diseases A weakened immune system Lung diseases Seizure diseases
Mechanism of Action THC’s chemical structure is similar to the brain chemical anandamide. Similarity in structure allows the body to recognize THC and to alter normal brain communication. Endogenous cannabinoids such as anandamide (see figure) function as neurotransmitters because they send chemical messages between nerve cells (neurons) throughout the nervous system. They affect brain areas that influence pleasure, memory, thinking, concentration, movement, coordination, and sensory and time perception. Because of this similarity, THC is able to attach to molecules called cannabinoid receptors on neurons in these brain areas and activate them, disrupting various mental and physical functions and causing the effects described earlier. The neural communication network that uses these cannabinoid neurotransmitters, known as the endocannabinoid system, plays a critical role in the nervous system’s normal functioning, so interfering with it can have profound effects.
17 THC’s chemical structure is similar to the brain chemical anandamide. Similarity in structure allows drugs to be recognized by the body and to alter normal brain communication.
THC, acting through cannabinoid receptors, also activates the
brain’s reward system, which includes regions that govern the response to healthy pleasurable behaviors such as sex and eating. Like most other drugs that people misuse, THC stimulates neurons in the reward system to release the signaling chemical dopamine at levels higher than typically observed in response to natural stimuli. This flood of dopamine contributes to the pleasurable "high" that those who use recreational marijuana seek.
18 Heroin/ Diamorphine Overview Heroin, also known as diamorphine among other names, is an opioid most commonly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. It is used medically in several countries to relieve pain or in opioid replacement therapy. It is typically injected, usually into a vein, but it can also be smoked, snorted, or inhaled. The onset of effects is usually rapid and lasts for a few hours. Heroin was first made by C. R. Alder Wright in 1874 from morphine, a natural product of the opium poppy. Internationally, heroin is controlled under Schedules I and IV of the Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, and it is generally illegal to make, possess, or sell without a license. About 448 tons of heroin were made in 2016.In 2015, Afghanistan produced about 66-percent of the world's opium. Illegal
19 heroin is often mixed with other substances such as sugar, starch, quinine, or strychnine.
Effects Repeated heroin use changes the physical structure and physiology of the brain, creating long-term imbalances in neuronal and hormonal systems that are not easily reversed. affect decision-making abilities affects ability to regulate behavior
Mechanism of Action The blood brain permeability of heroin is about 10 times that of morphine. Once heroin crosses the blood brain barrier, it is hydrolyzed into 6-acetyl morphine and morphine, which then quickly bind to opioid receptors. The “rush” felt by heroin users is the sensation caused by the rapid entry of heroin into the brain and the attachment of 6-acetyl morphine and morphine to opioid receptors. Opioids in general can change the neurochemical activity in the brain stem causing a depression in breathing. In the limbic system opioids cause an increase in feelings of pleasure, and have the ability to block pain signals sent through the spinal cord.
20 When heroin is injected or smoked, users typically feel two types of euphoric effects–a “rush” and a “high.” The rush usually lasts one to two minutes and occurs right after the drug is administered. It is described as an intense orgasmic feeling that is felt throughout the body, especially in the abdomen. Following the rush is a high that can last four to six hours. The feeling is described as warm and pleasant, with indifference to internal and external stimuli. The following characterizations may occur during a hig: “Go on the nod” – sitting in a chair or lying in bed, gazing at a newspaper or the television while dozing and rousing alternatively “Drive” – talking constantly, boasting, and busying oneself with chores Alternately nod and drive Function normally – this may lead to an observer not detecting heroin use.
