This paper presents a review on the genetics of A. annua as an important plant species for the treatment of malaria. A short history on the discovery of the plant is discussed. Furthermore, a clear description of the characteristics of A. annua is presented as the plant’s chemistry, mechanism of action and efficacy are thoroughly discussed. Many cytogenetic studies on A. annua focusing on the p...

Artemisinin resistance is a major threat to malaria control efforts. Resistance is characterized by an increase in the Plasmodium falciparum parasite clearance half-life following treatment with artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) and an increase in the percentage of surviving parasites. The remarkably short blood half-life of artemisinin derivatives may contribute to drug-resistance...

Parasite clearance data from 18,699 patients with falciparum malaria treated with an artemisinin derivative in areas of low (n=14,539), moderate (n=2077), and high (n=2083) levels of malaria transmission across the world were analyzed to determine the factors that affect clearance rates and identify a simple in vivo screening measure for artemisinin resistance. The main factor affecting parasit...

Artemether is one of the artemisinin derivatives that are active ingredients in antimalarial drugs. Counterfeit and substandard antimalarial drugs have become a serious problem, which demands reliable analytical tools and implementation of strict regulation of drug quality. Structural similarity among artemisinin analogs is a challenge to develop immunoassays that are specific to artemisinin de...

A recent Letter to the Editor (R. K. Haynes, D. Monti, D. Taramelli, N. Basilico, S. Parapini, and P. Olliaro, Letter, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 47:1175, 2003) presented cogent evidence that artemisinin and its derivatives do not inhibit hemozoin formation in vitro. However, the authors misinterpret these data to conclude that “binding of artemisinins with Fe(III)PPIX is not necessary for a...

While artemisinin is known as anticancer medication with favorable remedial effects, its side effects must not be neglected. In order to reduce such side effects and increase artemisinin therapeutic index, nano technology has been considered as a new approach. Liposome preparation is supposed to be one of the new methods of drug delivery. To prepare the desired nanoliposome, certain proportions...

Eight healthy Vietnamese male subjects received 400 mg artemisinin formulated into fatty suppositories (FS), and six different subjects received 500 mg of artemisinin formulated in polyethylene glycol suppositories (PEGS). Plasma concentrations were measured by high-performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection; concentration versus time curves were analyzed with nonparametri...

The current theories of antimalarial mechanism of artemisinin are inadequate to fully explain the observed effects. In our study, "organism-like" formation of Schistosoma hemozoin granules by attaching to and utilizing erythrocytes to form new ones was observed. This indicates that heme iron is transferred from erythrocytes to hemozoin granules during their formation. However, as a disposal pro...

Background: The adverse effects and increased resistance of drugs necessities the discovery novel combination therapy. Objectives: This study aimed to examine Artemisinin plus glucantime or shark cartilage extract on Iranian strain Leishmania major (MRHO/IR/75/ER) in vitro vivo. Methods: In experiments, their different concentrations (3.12 - 400 µg/mL) promastigotes, amastigotes, un-infected ma...

Twenty years ago, malaria was a neglected disease that was responsible for at least 1 million deaths per year; this high mortality was due in part to reliance on chloroquine, a failing drug, for treatment.1 Since then, there has been substantial progress in malaria control, and the number of deaths from malaria has been reduced by about one third. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) es...