History of aspirin History of aspirin The history of aspirin (IUPAC name acetylsalicylic acid ) begins with its synthesis and manufacture in 1899. Before that, salicylic acid had been used medicinally since antiquity. Medicines made from willow and other salicylate-rich plants appear in clay tablets from ancient Sumer as well as the Ebers Papyrus from ancient Egypt. Hippocrates referred to their use of salicylic tea to reduce fevers around 400 BC, and were part of the pharmacopoeia of Western medicine in classical antiquity and the Middle Ages. Willow bark extract became recognized for its specific effects on fever, pain and inflammation in the
Orotic acid Orotic acid Orotic acid is a heterocyclic compound and an acid; it is also known as pyrimidinecarboxylic acid. Historically it was believed to be part of the vitamin B complex and was called vitamin B, but it is now known that it is not a vitamin. The compound is manufactured in the body via a mitochondrial enzyme, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase or a cytoplasmic enzyme of pyrimidine synthesis pathway. It is sometimes used as a mineral carrier in some dietary supplements (to increase their bioavailability), most commonly for lithium orotate. Dihydroorotate is synthesized to orotic acid by the enzyme dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, where