Natural product to modern discovery of their active ingredients and eventually to the development of new drugs. A large number of currently prescribed drugs have been either directly derived from or inspired by natural products. A few representative examples are listed below. Some of the oldest natural product based drugs are analgesics. The bark of the willow tree has been known from antiquity to have pain relieving properties. This is due to presence of the natural product salicin which in turn may be hydrolyzed into salicylic acid. A synthetic derivative acetylsalicylic acid better known as aspirin is a widely used pain reliever.
Cromoglicic acid may act by inhibiting calcium influx. Cromoglicate is classified as a chromone. Cromolyn is also being tested as a drug to treat insulin-induced lipoatrophy. Cromolyn is also known to bind S100P protein and disrupt the interaction with RAGE. Cromoglicic acid Cromoglicic acid (INN) (also referred to as cromolyn (USAN), cromoglycate (former BAN), or cromoglicate) is traditionally described as a mast cell stabilizer, and is commonly marketed as the sodium salt sodium cromoglicate or cromolyn sodium. This drug prevents the release of inflammatory chemicals such as histamine from mast cells. Because of their convenience (and perceived safety), leukotriene receptor antagonists have