China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Decontextualised Chinese medicines
Published in Vivienne Lo, Michael Stanley-Baker, Dolly Yang, Routledge Handbook of Chinese Medicine, 2022
Michael Heinrich, Ka Yui Kum, Ruyu Yao
Artemisia annua L. is certainly now the most notable example of a modern medicine derived from medical traditions in China (see 50 in this volume, also Hsu 2006). The medical effects on febrile disease of Artemisia annua L. had been known since at least 340 CE when it was included in the Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency Treatment (Zhouhou beiji fang 肘後備急方) by Ge Hong 葛洪 (284–364 CE) (Stanley-Baker 2021). But it was not until 1967 that Chinese scientists initiated research on new antimalarial drugs using the Chinese materia medica. Famously, the entire secret project (Project 523) was initially driven by the Chinese search for new antimalarial agents partly in the context of the Vietnamese War.
A Pharmacological Appraisal of Antimalarial Plant Species
Published in Namrita Lall, Medicinal Plants for Cosmetics, Health and Diseases, 2022
Mahwahwatse J. Bapela, Precious B. Ramontja, Mcebisi J. Mabuza
Quinine and its derivatives are still considered to be effective antimalarial drugs, even though in most cases, issues of parasite resistance have been reported to be a major problem. Another important antimalarial drug derived from a plant species is artemisinin (Haldar et al., 2018). Artemisinin and its derivatives are currently used as first-line drug regimens for complicated malaria cases (Oboh et al., 2018). Artemisinin was derived from Artemisia annua L., and has since contributed largely to the reduction of the malaria burden in many parts of the world (Tilley et al., 2016). Since then further studies and research in medicinal plants have been ongoing, to discover new antimalarial drugs with different chemical structures and mechanisms of action. Both crude plant extracts and isolated pure compounds have been studied and are continuously being investigated for the possible discovery of novel antimalarial drugs that will be effective.
On the Sophistication of Herbal Medicines
Published in Aruna Bakhru, Nutrition and Integrative Medicine, 2018
Reductive approaches have, however, applied that “silver bullet” paradigm to the natural world. In consequence, a major thrust of twentieth-century research into plant medicines has been to identify what plant compounds produced the “active” effects. Pharmaceutical companies sponsored much of this research—they wanted to identify useful compounds from which to generate new drugs, including antimicrobials. One of the more famous findings, generated out of a desire to counter resistance in malarial organisms, is the compound artemisinin, found in Artemisia annua. Relatively recently, artemisinin was isolated, then semi-synthetic analogs were created and widely used to treat both resistant and nonresistant malarial infections. Unsurprisingly, within a short period of time, the malarial parasite began to develop resistance to these compounds, just as they have done with pharmaceuticals. The semisynthetic analogs were patentable, which artemisinin was not, but the molecular alterations also increased the bioavailability of the isolated compound. Artemisinin, by itself, is not all that bioavailable. But something quite different occurs when the whole plant is ingested, when the artemisinin is taken along with the other compounds in the plant.
Integrative Management of Pancreatic Cancer (PDAC): Emerging Complementary Agents and Modalities
Published in Nutrition and Cancer, 2022
Mustafa B. A. Djamgoz, Valerie Jentzsch
This compound is isolated from Artemisia annua, sweet wormwood, a herb commonly employed in traditional Chinese medicine against malaria (83). Artemisinin and its derivatives (e.g., dihydroartemisinin) produced a variety of in vitro and in vivo effects against PDAC, including inhibition of growth and induction of apoptosis (84–86). These effects have been associated with the upregulation of several miRNAs (83). It has also been suggested that artemisinin generates ROS to induce oxidative stress and thereby cell death in PDAC cell lines (87). Additionally, dihydroartemisinin increased T-cell proliferation and activity, which could promote an anticancer immune response (88). Importantly, dihydroartemisnin increased the sensitivity of PDAC in vitro and in vivo to therapies including gemcitabine and TRAIL (85, 89). In a xenograft model of PDAC, dihydroartemisinin significantly potentiated the effect of gemcitabine in supressing tumorigenesis by some 25% (Figure 7A) (85). Histochemical analyses of the tissues from the in vivo experiments showed that the enhancing effect of dihydroartemisinin involved suppression of proliferation and increased apoptosis (Figure 7B and C) (85). Additionally, dihydroartemisinin was able to sensitize liver cancer cells to gemcitabine in vivo, thereby further reducing tumor burden significantly (90).
Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerance of artemether emulsion for the treatment of papulopustular rosacea: a randomized pilot study
Published in Journal of Dermatological Treatment, 2019
Guo-Jiang Wang, Xiao-Yan Gao, Yun Wu, Hui-Qiong He, Yue Yu, Hai-Hong Qin, Wen-Tong Shen
Artemisinin, derived from the traditional Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua, has been commonly used as antimalarial drugs for more than 30 years (8,9). Recently, several studies have demonstrated that artemisinin and its bioactive derivatives, artesunate, can attenuate rosacea-like inflammation in mouse models (10). Artemether is one of the most studied lipid-based derivatives of artemisinin (11). Clinical evidence has also suggested that treatment with artemether has comparable efficacy with doxycycline hydrochloride in patients with rosacea (12). Artemether can also inhibit demodex mite (13), which is associated with rosacea (14). However, the clinical prescription of artemisinin for rosacea has been hampered by the form of artemisinin. In this study, we aim to investigate the efficacy and safety of 1% artemether emulsion in patients with mild to moderate papulopustular rosacea.
In vitro assessment of cytotoxic, genotoxic and mutagenic effects of antimalarial drugs artemisinin and artemether in human lymphocytes
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2019
Plínio Cerqueira dos Santos Cardoso, Carlos Alberto Machado da Rocha, Tatiane Cristina Mota, Marcelo de Oliveira Bahia, Regianne Maciel dos Santos Correa, Lorena Monteiro Gomes, Diego Di Felipe Avila Alcântara, Taíssa Maíra Thomaz Araújo, Leopoldo Silva de Moraes, Rommel Burbano
Qinghao is a Chinese term widely used to identify a very common plant species in China, called Artemisia annua L. (Maude et al.2010). The extract of this plant is a natural compound known as artemisinin or qinghaosu (Jing-Ming et al.1979), classified as a sesquiterpene lactone with a peroxide group in its chemical structure (Lindegardh et al.2009, Guo 2016). The first studies about the medicinal properties of qinghao arose from efforts by the Chinese Government in order to find alternative treatments for malaria, since it was responsible for the high mortality rate among soldiers involved in the Vietnam War (Weina 2008). More recent studies indicate that the anti-malaria compounds artemisinin and some derivatives, such dihydroartemisinin and artesunate, have also anti-cancer potential (Li et al.2009, Hu et al.2014, Tong et al.2016).