Neurotoxic Mode of Action of Artemisinin

Neurotoxic mode of action of artemisinin.

We recently described a screening system designed to detect neurotoxicity of artemisinin derivatives based on primary neuronal brain stem cell cultures (G. Schmuck and R. K. Haynes, Neurotoxicity Res. 2:37-49, 2000). Here, we probe possible mechanisms of this brain stem-specific neurodegeneration, in which artemisinin-sensitive neuronal brain stem cell cultures are compared with nonsensitive cu...

Artemisinin Inhibits Chloroplast Electron Transport Activity: Mode of Action

Artemisinin, a secondary metabolite produced in Artemisia plant species, besides having antimalarial properties is also phytotoxic. Although, the phytotoxic activity of the compound has been long recognized, no information is available on the mechanism of action of the compound on photosynthetic activity of the plant. In this report, we have evaluated the effect of artemisinin on photoelectron ...

Reactions of artemisinin and arteether with acid: implications for stability and mode of antimalarial action.

The currently accepted mechanism of trioxane antimalarial action involves generation of free radicals within or near susceptible sites probably arising from the production of distonic radical anions. An alternative mechanistic proposal involving the ionic scission of the peroxide group and consequent generation of a carbocation at C-4 has been suggested to account for antimalarial activity. We ...

evolution and mode of action of pulsed radiofrequency

Timing is everything for artemisinin action.

In Cambodia, the same region where chloroquine resistance developed in the 1950s, a significant delay in thePlasmodium falciparum parasite clearance rates to artemisinins has been persistently observed over the past 5 y, raising the specter of artemisinin “resistance” (1). The parasites in this region have imprints of genetic selection associated with the delay in parasite clearance rates measu...