Artemisia annua : Harvest and post-harvest treatments (original) (raw)
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Artemisia annua as a self-reliant treatment for malaria in developing countries
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 2008
Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by the protozoan Plasmodium parasites. Each year, it causes disease in approximately 515 million people and kills between one and three million people, the majority of whom are young children in sub-Saharan Africa. It is widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, including parts of the Americas, Asia, and Africa. Due to climate change and the gradual warming of the temperate regions the future distribution of the malaria disease might include regions which are today seen as safe. Currently, malaria control requires an integrated approach comprising of mainly prevention, including vector control and the use of effective prophylactic medicines, and treatment of infected patients with antimalarials. The antimalarial chloroquine, which was in the past a mainstay of malaria control, is now ineffective in most malaria areas and resistance to other antimalarials is also increasing rapidly. The discovery and development of artemisinins from Artemisia annua have provided a new class of highly effective antimalarials. ACTs are now generally considered as the best current treatment for uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria. This review gives a short history of the malaria disease, the people forming a high risk group and the botanical aspects of A. annua. Furthermore the review provides an insight in the use of ART and its derivatives for the treatment of malaria. Its mechanism of action and kinetics will be described as well as the possibilities for a self-reliant treatment will be revealed. This self-reliant treatment includes the local production practices of A. annua followed by the possibilities for using traditional prepared teas from A. annua as an effective treatment for malaria. Finally, HMM will be described and the advantages and disadvantages discussed.
Artemisia annua: A Miraculous Herb to Cure Malaria
Artemisia annua - Pharmacology and Biotechnology, 2013
Malaria disease is endemic in least developed countries like Ethiopia. This disease is caused by protozoa of the genus Plasmodium infection that is easily recognizable from the symptoms of prolonged fever. The rapid development of drug-resistant malaria parasite strain leaves the need for new effective anti-malarial drugs. Artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone found in the leaves and flowers of plants Artemisia annua L and have different chemical structures and higher efficacy than others. The plant Artemisia annua is the sole source of artemisinin in the industry. The main objective of the project was to provide a simple, rapid, cost effective, environmental friendly and practical method for the isolation of artemisinin from the plant Artemisia annua Furthermore, this work was focus on the mass and energy balance calculation of the antibiotic Artemisia annua in the large scale industry.
Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology 10 (2022) 67-71, 2022
Introduction: Artemisia (armoise) is a plant of the Asteracea family with different species all over the world. The Artemisia annua species of Chinese origin is known for its medicinal properties, mainly antimalarial. We present the case of a 38-year-old patient who suffered from malaria and was treated with Artemisia annua. This plant despite the controversy it creates, proved to be very efficient in the management of the patient from the onset of the symptoms till the recovery, and the patient also used it as a prophylaxis during other travels in an endemic zone. Objective: The objective of this study is to present a case of malaria in a patient considered naïve, who was treated with Artemisia annua. Method: The symptoms and clinical investigations are listed in chronological order of appearance and realization in the patient's consultation book. The tests were done in two different laboratories (one in Africa and the other in Europe), but the interpretation of results are comparable. A reference from the scientific literature on the subject was mentioned. Results: The follow-up of this patient showed a progressive subsidization of the symptoms within three days from the onset of symptoms and normalization of the clinico-biological parameters after ten days of treatment at a dose of 4 g of Artemisia leaves in a liter of water daily and consumed as herbal tea. Conclusion: The use of Artemisia annua as a treatment for malaria in naïve subjects could be effective. Its efficacy and cost-effectiveness need to be investigated in endemic countries, as it may represent an excellent first-line alternative in low-income healthcare systems.
Dried Whole Plant Artemisia annua as an Antimalarial Therapy
PLoS ONE, 2012
Drugs are primary weapons for reducing malaria in human populations. However emergence of resistant parasites has repeatedly curtailed the lifespan of each drug that is developed and deployed. Currently the most effective anti-malarial is artemisinin, which is extracted from the leaves of Artemisia annua. Due to poor pharmacokinetic properties and prudent efforts to curtail resistance to monotherapies, artemisinin is prescribed only in combination with other anti-malarials composing an Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT). Low yield in the plant, and the added cost of secondary antimalarials in the ACT, make artemisinin costly for the developing world. As an alternative, we compared the efficacy of oral delivery of the dried leaves of whole plant (WP) A. annua to a comparable dose of pure artemisinin in a rodent malaria model (Plasmodium chabaudi). We found that a single dose of WP (containing 24 mg/kg artemisinin) reduces parasitemia more effectively than a comparable dose of purified drug. This increased efficacy may result from a documented 40-fold increase in the bioavailability of artemisinin in the blood of mice fed the whole plant, in comparison to those administered synthetic drug. Synergistic benefits may derive from the presence of other anti-malarial compounds in A. annua. If shown to be clinically efficacious, well-tolerated, and compatible with the public health imperative of forestalling evolution of drug resistance, inexpensive, locally grown and processed A. annua might prove to be an effective addition to the global effort to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality.
Dried-leafArtemisia annua: A practical malaria therapeutic for developing countries?
World journal of pharmacology, 2014
Artemisinin from the plant Artemisia annua (A. annua) L., and used as artemisinin combination therapy (ACT), is the current best therapeutic for treating malaria, a disease that hits children and adults especially in developing countries. Traditionally, A. annua was used by the Chinese as a tea to treat "fever". More recently, investigators have shown that tea infusions and oral consumption of the dried leaves of the plant have prophylactic and therapeutic efficacy. The presence of a complex matrix of chemicals within the leaves seems to enhance both the bioavailability and efficacy of artemisinin. Although about 1000-fold less potent than artemisinin in their antiplasmodial activity, these plant chemicals are mainly small molecules that include other artemisinic compounds, terpenes (mainly mono and sesqui), flavonoids, and polyphenolic acids. In addition, polysaccharide constituents of A. annua may enhance bioavailability of artemisinin. Rodent pharmacokinetics showed longer T½ and Tmax and greater Cmax and AUC in Plasmodium chabaudi-infected mice treated with A. annua dried leaves than in healthy mice. Pharmacokinetics of deoxyartemisinin, a liver metabolite of artemisinin, was more inhibited in infected than in healthy mice. In healthy mice, artemisinin serum levels were > 40-fold greater in dried leaf fed mice than those fed with pure artemisinin. Human trial data showed that when delivered as dried leaves, 40-fold less artemisinin was required to obtain a therapeutic response compared to pure artemisinin. ACTs are still unaffordable for many malaria patients, and cost estimates for A. annua dried leaf tablet production are orders of magnitude less than for ACT, despite improvements in the production capacity. Considering that for > 2000 years this plant was used in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of fever with no apparent appearance of artemisinin drug resistance, the evidence argues for inclusion of affordable A. annua dried leaf tablets into the arsenal of drugs to combat malaria and other artemisinin-susceptible diseases.
Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy, 2018
Malarial diseases continue to risk the lives of more than 3 billion people in 97 countries in the world, causing sickness in several million people and death to half a million patients. The preponderate malaria causing apicomplexan protozoan parasite species Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax have become genetically resistant to most of the approved antimalarial drugs, including the artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs). At this time, there is a vigorous need to make enough efforts to meet the challenge of combating multi-drug resistant malaria by (a) speeding up the trials in progress on relatively more effective, new and mechanistically different antimalarial pharmaceuticals, (b) production of effective vaccines against falciparum and vivax malaria, (c) devising of new ways to use the presently available anti-malarials such as by using three-drugs ACTs and by using the different two-drug and three-drug ACTs sequentially, and (d) induction of Artemisia annua dry leaf therapy (ALT) of recent origin, but of ancient precedent, as an effective treatment for acute and complicated malaria. Here, a perspective type review is presented of the: pre-ALT antimalarial drugs, methodology of their usage and consequences of resistance development; safety, efficacy, affordability, quality maintenance and resilience to resistance development aspects of ALT; and possibilities of ALT re-purposement for treating many infectious-metabolic disorder related-and cancerous-diseases. In conclusion, an urgent need is emphasized for pilot studies and clinical trials on ALT to attest its deployment as anti-malarial and cure for diseases beyond malaria.
Cogent biology, 2018
The antimalarial active compounds in Artemisia annua include artemisinin, flavonoids, and aromatic oils. Artemisinin is the main antimalarial compound in A. annua, it used in the formulation of artemisinin-based combined therapies used to treat malaria. Artemisinin is largely obtained from A. annua plant but the content in it is very low and its production commercially is not cost effective worldwide. Flavonoids have a synergistic effect with artemisinin against malaria and are partly responsible for the prophylactic effect of A. annua herbal tea. Essential oils from A. annua are effective mosquito repellents. Most attempts have been made to try to raise artemisinin content. However, few or none has been tried to increase the flavonoids and aromatic oils. This article presents a review of various efforts that have been carried out to increase these antimalarial compounds.
Cogent Biology, 2018
The antimalarial active compounds in Artemisia annua include artemisinin, flavonoids, and aromatic oils. Artemisinin is the main antimalarial compound in A. annua, it used in the formulation of artemisinin-based combined therapies used to treat malaria. Artemisinin is largely obtained from A. annua plant but the content in it is very low and its production commercially is not cost effective worldwide. Flavonoids have a synergistic effect with artemisinin against malaria and are partly responsible for the prophylactic effect of A. annua herbal tea. Essential oils from A. annua are effective mosquito repellents. Most attempts have been made to try to raise artemisinin content. However, few or none has been tried to increase the flavonoids and aromatic oils. This article presents a review of various efforts that have been carried out to increase these antimalarial compounds.