The interest of Western medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) as a source of drug leads/new drugs to treat diseases without available efficient therapies has been dramatically augmented in the last decades by the extensive work and the outstanding findings achieved within this kind of medicine. The practice of TCM over thousands of years has equipped scientists with substantial experie...

Since time immemorial, plants served as the first source of medicine to treat ailments. Man learnt about the therapeutic use of plants through trials and errors. This knowledge has been orally passed from generation to generation which led to the development of the traditional health care system, practiced in various countries of the world [1]. Ethnobotanical studies discover plant resources th...

Cytochrome P450 enzymes affected by artemisinin antimalarials – pharmacokinetic and pharmacogenetic aspects With more than 500 million cases and at least 1 million deaths each year, malaria is a major global health problem. The main problem with malaria control is the emerging drug resistance among parasites causing the infection. Consequently, there is an urgent need for new drugs. The artemis...

With more than 500 million cases and at least 1 million deaths each year, malaria is a major global health problem. The main problem with malaria control is the emerging drug resistance among parasites causing the infection. Consequently, there is an urgent need for new drugs. The artemisinin endoperoxide antimalarials are highly effective, well tolerated and have become the most important clas...

Artemisia annua L., also known as sweet wormwood, sweet annie, sweet sagewort and annual wormwood (Chinese: qngho), is a common type of wormwood that is native to temperate Asia, but naturalized throughout the world, and that belongs to the family of the Asteraceae. Currently, Artemisia annua is the source for the production of artemisinin and semi-synthetic artemisinin derivatives (including d...

The in vitro activities of dihydroartemkinin (the biologically active metabolite of artemisinin derivatives), chloroquine, monodesethylamodiaquine (the biologically active metabolite of amodiaquine), quinine, mefloquine, halofantrine, and pyrimethamine were assessed in 65 African isolates of Plasmodium falciparum from Yaounde, Cameroon using an isotopic microtest. The 50% inhibitory concentrati...

Malaria continues to be one of the major public health problems in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Plasmodium falciparum malaria is estimated to be the direct cause of 500 million cases and over 1 million deaths per year, mostly in women and children under the age of 5 years [1,2]. In children, progression of disease from mild to severe is particularly rapid [3]. Plasmodium falciparum has becom...

b-Artemether (AM), the O-methyl ether prodrug of dihydroartemisinin (DHA), is an endoperoxide antimalarial. The biliary metabolites of AM in adult male Wistar rats were characterized with particular reference to potential antimalarial compounds and stable derivatives of free radical intermediates. [13-C]-AM (35 mmol kg, i.v.) was administered to anesthetized rats. Within 0 to 3 h, 38.6 6 4.8% (...

Background: Artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum has emerged in the Greater Mekong sub-region and poses a major global public health threat. Slow parasite clearance is a key clinical manifestation of reduced susceptibility to artemisinin. This study was designed to establish the baseline values for clearance in patients from Sub-Saharan African countries with uncomplicated malaria treate...

Background: Artemisinin-resistant Plasmodium falciparum has emerged in the Greater Mekong sub-region and poses a major global public health threat. Slow parasite clearance is a key clinical manifestation of reduced susceptibility to artemisinin. This study was designed to establish the baseline values for clearance in patients from Sub-Saharan African countries with uncomplicated malaria treate...