Artemisinin News and Research

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Artemisinin is a drug used to treat multi-drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria. The compound (a sesquiterpene lactone) is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua. Not all plants of this species contain artemisinin.

Study assesses whether medicinal mushrooms and Chinese herbs can help treat COVID-19

A novel study is assessing whether medicinal mushrooms and Chinese herbs provide therapeutic benefit in treating acute COVID-19 infection.

12 Nov 2021

Malaria: An Interview with the World Health Organization

In this interview, we spoke to Dr. Akpaka Kalu, the World Health Organization's team leader for malaria in Africa, about the groundbreaking malaria vaccine rollout announcement.

28 Oct 2021

Can targeting autophagy become a new approach to COVID-19 treatment?

In a recent review, the author discusses autophagy as a contributing mechanism of selected drugs that are currently being evaluated to treat COVID‐19.

25 Oct 2021

Artemisia plant extract prevents SARS-CoV-2 replication in vitro

A new study describes the beneficial effect of an extract of Artemisia annua when used to treat cells in culture exposed to SARS-CoV-2.

13 Sep 2021

Study looks at potent phytocompounds from Himalayan herbs to treat COVID-19

Considering the antiviral activity of medicinal herbs, a new study published in the journal Current Pharmacology Reports focuses on the identification of potent phytochemicals from Himalayan herbs, namely, Rheum emodi, Thymus serpyllum, and Artemisia annua, for the treatment of COVID-19.

1 Aug 2021

China earns a malaria-free certification from WHO

Following a 70-year effort, China has been awarded a malaria-free certification from WHO – a notable feat for a country that reported 30 million cases of the disease annually in the 1940s.

28 Jul 2021

Study proves effectiveness of Artemisia annua against SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

A multinational research group has been the first to show the excellent activity of artemisinin-based treatment against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in human cell lines – including a specific type of lung cells. Their findings were recently published in the journal Scientific Reports.

19 Jul 2021

Study examines artemisinin-based combination therapy as first-line treatment for malaria

When a mosquito begins to nibble on you, it is not merely feeding on your blood, it is also injecting its saliva into your skin. If that saliva happens to be full of parasites carrying malaria or other diseases from its last victim, then most likely you will become infected, too.

6 May 2021

World Malaria Day 2021: An interview with Sir Brian Greenwood

News-Medical interviews Sir Brian Greenwood about raising awareness for malaria during the COVID-19 pandemic and achieving elimination of the disease.

23 Apr 2021

Collaborative research could expedite or eliminate the need to manually adjust bioproduction process

Much of common pharmaceutical development today is the product of laborious cycles of tweaking and optimization.

21 Apr 2021

Malaria mutations may be gaining a foothold in Africa, shows new data

New data provide the first clinical evidence that drug-resistant mutations in the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum may be gaining a foothold in Africa.

15 Apr 2021

Do Artemisia annua L. compounds have SARS-CoV-2 antiviral potential?

Caused by SARS-CoV-2, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has led to over 121.2 million cases and over 2.6 million deaths worldwide. An interesting new study examines the potential antiviral activity of compounds present in the plant Artemisia annua L.

18 Mar 2021

Five herbal medicines show potent activity against Babesia duncani in the lab

Bay Area Lyme Foundation, a leading sponsor of Lyme disease research in the U.S., today announced the publication of new data finding that five herbal medicines had potent activity compared to commonly-used antibiotics in test tubes against Babesia duncani, a malaria-like parasite found on the West Coast of the U.S. that causes the disease babesiosis.

9 Mar 2021

Artemisia plant extracts show potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity in vitro

A team of scientists from Germany and the USA recently explored the effectiveness of traditional plant medicines in treating SARS-CoV-2 infection.

16 Feb 2021

Extract of medicinal plant Artemisia annua interferes with replication of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

Researchers in the United States have shown that extracts of an aromatic herb called Artemisia annua inhibit the replication of severe acute respiratory coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) – the agent responsible for the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

11 Jan 2021

Exposure to artemisinin drug could increase sexual conversion rate of malaria parasite

Exposure to suboptimal doses of the antiparasitic drug artemisinin could increase the sexual conversion rate of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, thereby increasing the probability of transmission, according to a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), an institution supported by "la Caixa" Foundation.

29 Oct 2020

Study offers new insight on molecular mechanisms that allow malaria parasites to spread disease

New insight on the molecular mechanisms that allow malaria parasites to move and spread disease within their hosts has been published today in the open-access eLife journal.

14 Oct 2020

Study reveals potential utility of artemisinin-based treatments against SARS-CoV-2

In a recent, methodologically robust bioRXiv preprint paper, researchers from Germany, Denmark and Hong Kong report in vitro efficacy of extracts from the sweet wormwood plant (Artemisia annua), but also artemisinin, artesunate and artemether derivatives against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

6 Oct 2020

Understanding how the malaria parasite can withstand fever's heat

Even when a person suffering from malaria is burning up with fever and too sick to function, the tiny blood-eating parasites lurking inside them continue to flourish, relentlessly growing and multiplying as they gobble up the host's red blood cells.

5 Oct 2020

Using medieval medicine to find new treatments for modern-day infections

News-Medical spoke to researchers from the University of Warwick about their research investigating natural antimicrobials and their potential as antibiotics.

11 Aug 2020