1

Carbohydrate-containing Products
Sugar and Sugar-containing Drugs
1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Sucrose (saccharum or sugar)

- Main Sources:
Stems of Saccharum officinarum; Poaceae
Tubers of Beta vulgaris; Chenopodiaceae
Exudates of Acer saccharum; Aceraceae
- Constituents: sucrose and albumins
- Production:
Sugar Cane
1. Stems of sugar cane are crushed to extract the juice
2. The juice is boiled with lime
To neutralize plant acids which would otherwise change sucrose to invert sugar
To coagulate albumin which rises to the top and is removed
3. The juice is filtered, decolorized with ________________ , concentrated and crystallized
______________ : dark-colored syrup which is a residue from this process when sugar
crystals are no longer attainable
Sugar Beets
1. Tubers are sliced into small limp silvers called _____________
2. Sugar is extracted with hot water and is purified
Dextrose (-D-glucopyranose or D-glucose)
- Main Source: Vitis vinifera; Vitaceae
- Production: Obtained by the controlled enzymatic hydrolysis of starch
i. Gelatinization Stage: a slurry starch is heated to 105C and the enzyme ______________ is added
ii. Liquefaction Stage: the mixture is held at 95C for two hours
iii. Saccharification: the partially hydrolysed starch is completely hydrolysed to glucose using the enzyme
_____________ from the fungus Aspergillus niger
- Uses: nutrient, tonicity agent, ingredient in official parenteral and anticoagulant preparations
Dextrose Excipient
- Crystalline dextrose monohydrate that has undergone less rigorous purification
- USES: sweeteners, substitute for sucrose in syrups, tablet binders and coating agents
- DEXTRATES: purified mixture of saccharides (not less than ___ dextrose); prepared by enzymatic hydrolysis of starch
Liquid Glucose
- Obtained from incomplete hydrolysis of starch
- Colorless or yellowish, thick syrupy liquid, odourless, sweet tasting
- CONSTITUENTS: dextrose, dextrins, maltose, water
Glucose-containing Preparations
a. Calcium gluconate
- Calcium salt of gluconic acid
- Obtained by: (1) oxidation of dextrose or (2) fermentation
- USE: Electrolyte replenisher (to obtain therapeutic effects of calcium)
- _______ irritating than calcium chloride when given parenterally
b. Calcium gluceptate and Calcium levulinate
- Calcium salts of 7 and 5 carbon acids prepared from other carbohydrates
- CALCIUM GLUCEPTATE: obtained from _________
- CALCIUM LEVULINATE: obtained from starch or sugar cane through boiling with _________________
c. Ferrous gluconate
- Ferrous salt of gluconic acid
Compiled and Prepared by: LMVLDolique&GGGOchoa 2015

- Provides less gastric distress than inorganic ferrous salts

- DOSE:
i.
Prophylactic: 325mg per day
ii.
Therapeutic: 325mg; four times a day
6.

7.

8.

Fructose
- Also known as fruit sugar, levulose, D-fructose, -D fructopyranose and -D fructofuranose
- Ketone sugar that occurs naturally in most sweet fruits and honey
- Colorless to white crystal or granules, odourless, sweet (half as sweet as glucose), freely soluble in water
- Obtained from:
i. Inversion of aqueous solutions of sucrose and subsequent separation of fructose from glucose
ii. Hydrolysis of inulin
USES:
i. Food for diabetics
ii. Used in infant feeding formulas
iii. Ingredient in parenterals; used as fluid, nutrient and electrolyte replenishers; given IV or SC
Lactose
a. Cows Milk
- Fresh, unpasteurized or pasteurized milk of Bos taurus (Bovidae); without modification
- White, opaque liquid that is an emulsion of minute fat globules suspended in a solution of casein, albumin,
lactose and inorganic salts
- Fat globules (cream) rise to the top when milk is allowed to stand for a few hours
- MILK DERIVATIVES:
1. Butter: formed when churned fat globules unite
2. Buttermilk: liquid left behind after separating the butter
3. Skimmed Milk: milk left after separation of the cream from buttermilk
4. Cheese: treated coagulum obtained from the treatment of skimmed milk with rennin
5. Whey: liquid separated from coagulum; contains lactose an inorganic salts
6. Condensed Milk: prepared by partial evaporation of milk in a vacuum and sterilization in
hermetically-sealed containers by autoclaving
7. Malted Milk: made by evaporating milk with an extract of malt
b. Lactulose
- Semisynthetic sugar prepared by alkaline rearrangement of lactose
- Yields fructose and galactose upon hydrolysis
- Poorly absorbed by the body
- Brand names: Lilac, Duphalac, Cephulac, Chronulac
- USES:
1. Laxative (daily dose: 10-20g)
i.
Reaches the colon unchanged
ii.
Metabolized by bacteria in colon to acetic acid and lactic acid
iii.
Accumulation of irritating acids causes laxative effect
2. Used in portal-systemic encephalopathy (dose: 20-30g in syrup form; 3-4 times daily)
a. Acts by decreasing blood ammonia concentration (by 25-50%)
b. Acidified stools trap the ammonium ion and prevent its reabsorption
Xylose
- Also known as D-xylose or wood sugar
- Pentose sugar obtained by boiling corn cobs, straw or similar materials with dilute acids to hydrolyze the xylan
polymer
- Has a sweet taste and is normally absorbed from the small intestines but is not metabolized significantly by
mammalian enzymes
- USE: diagnostic agent to evaluate intestinal absorption
Compiled and Prepared by: LMVLDolique&GGGOchoa 2015

Drugs Containing Compounds Metabolically Related to Sugars

A. Products of Glycolytic and Oxidative Metabolism

1.

2.

3.

- Some are produced by the cellular respiration of carbohydrates

- GLYCOLYSIS: via Embden Meyerhof Pathway
- OXIDATION: via Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle
Cherry Juice
- Also known as _______________
- Liquid expressed from the fresh, ripe fruit of Prunus cerasi; Rosaceae
- Contains not less than 1% malic acid
- USE: Preparation of cherry syrup
Plant Acids
- Usually function as acidulants or components of buffer systems
- Nontoxic and causes less irritation than inorganic acids
a. Citric Acid
- First isolated in crystal form from ___________ by Scheele in 1784
- Obtained commercially from:
i.
___________ (Citrus limon, Rutaceae), __________ (Citrus aurantifolia; Rutaceae)
and _____________ (Ananas comosus; Bromeliaceae)
ii.
Fermentation of sucrose
- USES:
i.
Buffering systems
ii.
Acidulant in effervescent formulations
iii.
Component of various official preparations
iv.
Component of anticoagulant citrate dextrose solution
b. Lactic Acid
- Obtained by the lactic fermentation of sugars or by synthetic preparation
- USES:
i.
Acidulant, especially in infant feeding formulas
ii.
Electrolyte replenisher (sodium lactate injection): sodium replenisher in the
treatment of metabolic acidosis
iii.
Calcium lactate: calcium replenisher; dose: 1-5 grams three times a day
c. Tartaric Acid
- Obtained as a byproduct of the wine industry
- USES:
i.
Substitute for citric acid in buffer systems
ii.
In effervescent formulations
d. Ferrous fumarate
- Hematinic agent; dose: 200mg three to four times a day
Alcohol
- Also known as ethanol; contains not less than 92.3% of ethanol by weight or 92.9% ethanol by volume
- USES:
i. Local anti-infective ( ____ solution)
ii. Fluid and calorie replenisher (5-10% alcohol and 5% dextrose via IV)
- DILUTE ALCOHOL: mixture of alcohol and water (48.4 to 49.5% alcohol); used as a solvent
- FERMENTATION and DISTILLATION: process used to make alcoholic beverages
i. Beer: from fermented _________
ii. Wine: from fermented __________ and other fruits; used before as a mild stimulant and tonic
iii. Brandy: distilled form of ________
iv. Whiskey: distilled form of ____________________
v. Rum: fermented __________
Compiled and Prepared by: LMVLDolique&GGGOchoa 2015

B. Products of Reductive Metabolism

1.

2.

Mannitol
- Also known as D-mannitol
- Hexahydrate obtained by reduction of mannose or by isolation from manna
- __________ : dried saccharine exudates of Fraxinus ornus; Oleaceae
- Contains 50-60% mannitol; not absorbed from the GIT
- USES:
i. Diagnostic Aid
- 80% of a 100g dose would appear in the urine in 3 hours
- Dose: 200mg per kg of body weight in a 15-25% solution given IV in 3-5 minutes
ii. Osmotic Diuretic
1. Not metabolized and is eliminated readily by glomerular filtration when given parenterally
2. Dose: 50-100g daily in a 5-25% solution given via IV infusion (30-50ml per hour)
Sorbitol
- Also known as D-glucitol
- Obtained from:
i. Ripe berries of the _______________ , Sorbus aucuparia; Rosaceae
ii. Hydrogenation or electrolytic reduction of glucose
- Tastes half as sweet as sucrose; exhibits humectant properties; neither absorbed nor metabolized readily
- USES:
i. Ingredient in toothpastes, chewing gums and other dietetic products
ii. Urologic irrigation (in combination with __________ )

Polysaccharides and Polysaccharide-containing Drugs

1.

Starch
- Consists of amylose and amylopectin
- Hydrolyzed by -amylase and -amylase
i. -amylase
- Present in pancreatic juice and saliva
- Gives rise to a mixture of glucose, maltose and amylopectin
ii. -amylase
- Removes maltose units
- Hydrolyzes amylose to ____________
- Incomplete hydrolysis of amylopectin produces ___________
- USES:
i. Ingredient in dusting powders
ii. Pharmaceutic aid
iii. Antidote for iodine poisoning
iv. Commercial uses
v. Starting material from which liquid glucose (corn syrup), dextrose and dextrins are made
- Starch Derivatives
i. Sodium starch glycolate
- Semisynthetic; sodium salt of a _______________ of starch
- Used as an distintegrant
ii. Hetastarch
- Semisynthetic; approximately 90% amylopectin
- USES:
a. Plasma expander
b. Adjunct therapy in treatment of shock caused by haemorrhage, burns, surgery. Sepsis or
other trauma
Compiled and Prepared by: LMVLDolique&GGGOchoa 2015

2.

3.

4.

Inulin
-

Also known as hydrous inulin

D-fructofuranose polymer obtained from subterranean organs of members of the family ____________
Occurs in the cell sap; fresh root or rhizome is immersed in ___________ , yielding crystalline inulin aggregates
USES:
i. In culture media as a fermentative identifying agent for certain bacteria
ii. Evaluation of renal function (only filtered by the glomeruli)
- Dose: 10g dissolved in 100ml of sodium chloride injection via IV infusion

Dextran
- -1,6-linked polyglucan formed from sucrose by the action of a transglucosylase enzyme present in Leuconostoc
mesenteroides
- Used as a plasma expander in solutions of 6% in cases of shock caused by haemorrhage, trauma or severe burns
- IRON DEXTRAN INJECTION
i. Sterile colloidal solution of ___________ in complex with partially hydrolysed dextran in water for injection
ii. Used as a hematinic given, IM or IV when oral iron preparations are not well-tolerated
Cellulose
a. Purified Cellulose
- Also known as absorbent cotton
- From the hair of the seed of Gossypium hirsutum; Malvaceae that is freed from impurities, deprived of fatty
mater, bleached and sterilized
- PRODUCTION:
- Plants produce capsules/bolls
- Hairs/cotton fibers are collected by ____________
- Cotton fibers are carded and combed to remove impurities; washed with alkali; bleached; washed
with acid and water; dried and made into sheets; and sterilized in its container
- USES:
- Surgical dressing
- Mechanical protection to absorb blood, mucus or pus and to protect wounds from bacteria
- Employed for textiles
b. Powdered Cellulose
- Purified, mechanically disintegrated cellulose
- Prepared by processing -cellulose obtained as pulp from fibrous materials
- USES: self-binding tablet diluents and disintegrating agents
c. Microcrystalline Cellulose
- Purified, partially depolymerized cellulose
- Prepared by treating -cellulose with mineral acids
- Used as a tablet diluent
d. Purified Rayon
i. Fibrous form of bleached, regenerated cellulose
ii. Used as a surgical aid

Compiled and Prepared by: LMVLDolique&GGGOchoa 2015