What is the Difference Between Quinine and Hydroxyquinoline

The key difference between quinine and hydroxyquinoline is that quinine is a medication useful in treating malaria and babesiosis, whereas hydroxyquinoline does not have considerable treatment applications.

Quinine and hydroxyquinoline are organic compounds. Hydroxyquinoline is a less commonly studied organic compound and a derivative of quinine. Quinine has many applications, and there are many studies about the substance.

CONTENTS

1. Overview and Key Difference
2. What is Quinine  
3. What is Hydroxyquinoline
4. Quinine vs Hydroxyquinoline in Tabular Form
5. Summary – Quinine vs Hydroxyquinoline

What is Quinine?

Quinine is a medication that is useful in treating malaria and babesiosis. This medication can treat malaria that comes from Plasmodium falciparum, which is resistant to chloroquine. Sometimes, it is also used for nocturnal leg cramps, but it is rarely recommended due to the side effects it can cause. We can take this medication by mouth or as an intravenous injection. However, in certain areas of the world, there are some malaria species that are resistant to quinine. Moreover, quinine can be found as an ingredient in tonic water, which gives this water a bitter taste.

The most common side effects of quinine include headache, ringing in the ears, trouble in seeing, and sweating. However, there can be some serious side effects as well, which include deafness, low blood platelets, and irregular heartbeat.

The trade names for quinine include Qualaquin, Quinbisul, etc. The routes of administration can include oral administration, intramuscular injection, intravenous injection, and rectal administration. Its protein binding ability is about 70-95%, and the metabolism occurs in the liver. The elimination half-life can range from 8 hours to 14 hours. The excretion occurs in the kidney.

What is Hydroxyquinoline?

Hydroxyquinoline is a derivative of quinine. The chemical formula of this compound is C20H24N2O3, and the molecular weight of this compound is 340 g/mol. It occurs in solid-state at room temperature and pressure. This compound belongs to the class of organic compounds known as “cinchona alkaloids.”

We can characterize these organic compounds by the presence of the cinchona skeleton. There are natural sources of hydroxyquinoline, which involves foods containing Anatidae, chickens, and domestic pigs. The molecular framework of this compound can be described as aromatic heterocyclic compounds.

We can give two major biological locations for hydroxyquinoline: excreta such as feces and cellular substructures such as blood. The sources include exogenous food items, and the route of exposure includes ingestion.

What is the Difference Between Quinine and Hydroxyquinoline?

Quinine is a medication that is useful in treating malaria and babesiosis. Hydroxyquinoline is a derivative of quinine. The key difference between quinine and hydroxyquinoline is that quinine is a medication useful in treating malaria and babesiosis, whereas hydroxyquinoline does not have considerable treatment applications. Moreover, the reactivity of quinine is comparatively low, while the reactivity of hydroxyquinoline is comparatively high.

Below is a summary of the difference between quinine and hydroxyquinoline in tabular form for side by side comparison.

Summary – Quinine vs Hydroxyquinoline

Quinine and hydroxyquinoline are organic compounds. Quinine is a medication that is useful in treating malaria and babesiosis. Hydroxyquinoline is a derivative of quinine. Therefore, the key difference between quinine and hydroxyquinoline is that quinine is a medication useful in treating malaria and babesiosis, whereas hydroxyquinoline does not have considerable treatment applications.

Reference:

1. “3-Hydroxyquinine.” National Center for Biotechnology Information. PubChem Compound Database, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
2. “Showing Metabocard for 3-Hydroxyquinine (HMDB0001091).” The Human Metabolome Database.
3. “Quinine Molecule – Chemical and Physical Properties.” Science of Cooking.

Image Courtesy:

1. “Tonic water uv” By User:Splarka from en:wp – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tonic_water_uv.jpg (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia
2. “Quinine-3D-balls” By Ben Mills – Own work (Public Domain) via Commons Wikimedia