Artemisinin is obtained from the sweet wormwood extract and has so far been found to be excellent for the treatment of malaria, including highly resistant strains of this parasite. Its effectiveness has also been shown in parasitic infections such as schistosomiasis. Sweet wormwood has shown great influence, and broad properties in carcinogenic diseases and tests have been performed on animals and humans.
Progress in defining the role has been seen in many ways and from various angles artemisinin in medicine, with a special focus on its mechanisms and mode of action. This safe and inexpensive drug that saves the lives of people infected with malaria can also have significant potential in oncology.
Artemisinin’s introduction
The story of Fr. I will discover sweet wormwood and its active ingredient artemisinin by Chinese scientists, which is one of the greatest discoveries in medicine in the second half of the 20th century. This project is called 523. They were discovered on that occasion dihydroartemisinin, artemether, acrylic acid, or artemisinin, which is now making incredible strides in the treatment of malaria. Malaria is so prevalent that we have about 500 million new cases each year. This drug differs in many properties from the classic quinoline anti-malarial drugs and is extremely effective when combined with them.
Structure of artemisinin derivative of sweet wormwood:
(AND) Artemisinin isolated in crystal 1973 from the plant Artemisia annua or sweet wormwood, (B) dihydroartemisinin, (C) arthemer, (D) artesunate, (F) arter were first found by Chinese scientists in 1970. ( E) Artemison is a representative of a new class of artemisinin known as amino-artemisinin. Its characteristics are low toxicity. (G) Artelinate is prepared as a product in Walter’s Red Army Institute for research but was rejected, and the research was discontinued due to its high toxicity. (H) Deoxyarthemisinin.
Artemisinin is the subject of many studies aimed at researching and improving this drug class. Artemisinin is also active against other parasitic species, including protozoa, a phylogenetic species of parasite associated with malaria-causing Plasmodium parasites. Artemisinin derivative of sweet wormwood also acts against the metazoan parasite Schistosomes. Their healing effect also includes a strong anticancer effect. Many reports from medical studies show artemisinin as an anticancer agent. Recently, a clinical study was published in patients with lung cancer. During the short-term use of this cheap preparation, it was determined that there are valid reasons to include this drug in an integral part of anti-cancer therapy.
Use of artemisinin to treat malaria
The use of semi-synthetic derivative artesunate from sweet wormwood to treat severe malaria has been highlighted in recent publications. Artesunate is very effective compared to quinine and has fewer side effects than quinine, the only drug used to treat malaria.
Mortality in adults with artesunate is lower than in quinine. The intractable treatment has been extensively studied in adults and children with malaria symptoms very far from health facilities. New results from these studies will be available soon. Safety and efficacy are paramount in these studies. However, one child treated with very high doses of artesunate 88 mg / 1kg compared to the permitted 10-20 mg / 1kg died during treatment from this drug’s toxicity.
It should be emphasized that artesunate is much more toxic than artemisinin, but it acts faster. Interestingly, oral artemether and DHA are commonly used in multidose formulations instead of artesunate. Artesunate may have positive properties, both in terms of stability and ease of action compared to DHA and in negative effects in animals compared to artemether. New semi-synthetic artemisinins such as artemisinin are safe and improve efficacy, and have an improved effect against malaria models that have acquired artemisinin resistance.
Anticancer properties of artemisinin – sweet wormwood
Artemisinin’s anti-cancer properties have been tested since the late 1980s. After detailed studies, artemisinin was active against many tumor lines, including the most common types such as colon, breast cancer, lung cancer and leukemia, and pancreatic cancer. Studies have also identified general mechanisms in normalizing certain metabolic processes in the body that cause artemisinin.
Other mechanisms of anticancer activity include inhibition of enhanced tumor-associated angiogenesis. Artemisinin inhibits the proliferation, migration, and formation of tubes from the human umbilical vein of endothelial cells inhibits vascular endothelial growth factor. In cancer cells, artemisinin reduces VEGF receptors’ expression and slows the growth of human ovarian cancer.
It has also been shown that in some cancerous diseases, delivering larger amounts of iron increases artemisinin’s efficiency. Should artemisinin remain one of the few compounds that have not been sufficiently researched and have interesting properties in the treatment of cancerous diseases? Of course not, and there are many reasons for that. First, artemisinin is inexpensive, safe, and easily taken orally as a bioavailable compound that targets many cancer types.
Animals have been tested, and it has been proven that artemisinin has antitumor activity and reduces the risk of developing liver metastasis. Besides, clinical trials of individual cases recently published in lung cancer studies prove that artemisinin, in this case, is extremely effective in antitumor intervention, and this is especially pronounced in colorectal cancers and leukemia.
Other potentially useful properties of artemisinin and its compounds
In new studies, it has been found in several groups that artemisinin also has antiviral properties. Artemisinin reduces the replication rate of hepatitis B and C, herpes, HIV-1, influenza A virus, and bovine viral diarrhea. Artemisinin effectively reduces human herpesvirus 5 when used 300 mg daily, orally for 30 days. Artemisinin also has some antifungal properties against pneumocystis customs. There are several other positive effects on rheumatoid arthritis, renal syndrome, pancreatitis.
Artemisinin is firmly established as a cure for malaria in combination therapies. Its great potential now lies in diseases that are a challenge for all of humanity, such as many cancers, and for which currently only expensive treatments are effective. The issues are, of course, the dosing regimen, the safety of long-term use, and the possibility of indications with combination therapies. These are needs that need to be urgently investigated in clinical studies for a past and future drug called artemisinin.
