Dihydroartemisinin News and Research

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Dihydroartemisinin is a drug used to treat malaria. Dihydroartemisinin is the active metabolite of all artemisinin compounds (artemisinin, artesunate, artemether, etc.) and is also available as a drug in itself.

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

Antimalarial drug shows in vitro activity against SARS-CoV-2 and flu viruses

Now, a new study published in the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports on the antiviral activity of two drugs found in an antimalarial drug currently in phase II trials in South Korea, called Pyramax.

30 Jul 2020

Triple therapies effective and safe in malaria

A new study describing the outcome of a clinical trial of two malaria treatment protocols involving the use of triple therapies based on artemisinin reports their high efficacy and low adverse effects.

12 Mar 2020

LSTM researchers show potential of novel antiparasitic drug to combat malaria

Researchers from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine have shown the large potential impact of a completely new type of antimalarial drug that kills mosquitoes, as opposed to existing drugs that target the parasite, to reduce the spread of malaria.

27 Mar 2018

“Super malaria” resistant to standard medications in South East Asia

The spread of a single multidrug resistant malaria parasite strain in Vietnam is cause for alarm say researchers.

25 Sep 2017

Study compares different strategies to prevent malaria among pregnant women in sub Saharan Africa

A novel strategy to screen pregnant women for malaria with rapid diagnostic tests and treat the test-positive women with effective antimalarials does not lower the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes compared with treating all pregnant women with the malaria preventive sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) in sub-Saharan Africa, according to an open label randomized trial published this week in PLOS Medicine by Feiko ter Kuile, of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, and colleagues.

19 Sep 2016

Study assesses acceptability of alternative drug to prevent malaria among pregnant women in Kenya

Researchers at LSTM, working with colleagues at the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention USA, the Kenya Medical Research Institute, and from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, have completed a study to assess the acceptability among pregnant women and health providers in Kenya of a new drug as an alternative to the standard drug used to prevent malaria in pregnancy.

21 Mar 2016

Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine effective in treating malaria in pregnant women

Pregnant women can be protected from malaria, a major cause of prematurity, low birth weight and death in infants in Africa, with dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine , an artemisinin combination therapy that is already widely used to treat malaria in adults, according to a study by researchers at UC San Francisco and in Uganda.

10 Mar 2016

New drug may prevent malaria in pregnant women

Researchers at LSTM, working with colleagues of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Kenya and USA, and from the Kenya Medical Research Institution have found that a new drug may be more effective at preventing malaria in pregnant woman, especially where there is resistance to the current treatments.

29 Sep 2015

Pharmaceuticals against malaria can now be produced from waste of plant-extraction

Research success through collaborative efforts of chemists and engineers from Berlin/Potsdam and Magdeburg. All of the best currently available pharmaceuticals against malaria can now be produced in pure form using a single process, even from the waste of the plant-extraction.

10 Sep 2014

Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine more effective than artemether-lumefantrine in treating malaria

'Dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine is more effective than artemether-lumefantrine, and has fewer side effects than artesunate-mefloquine' concludes a systematic review published by the Cochrane Infectious Disease Group, hosted by LSTM.

21 Jan 2014

Scientists develop novel, rapid way to test artemisinin-resistant malaria

For the first time, scientists have developed a novel and rapid way to test whether the most common and lethal form of malaria is resistant to potent artemisinin drugs.

12 Sep 2013

Malaria Box helps identify three chemical series that target treatment of NTDs

The Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announce today the identification of three chemical series targeting the treatment of deadly neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), through DNDi's screening of MMV's open access Malaria Box.

14 Nov 2012

Link between changes in malaria parasite and absorption of pharmaceutical compounds

Professor Max Petzold at the Nordic School of Public Health shows in a recent article a link between changes in the malaria parasite and the absorption of pharmaceutical compounds. Increased knowledge of the malaria parasite and the connection with the development of resistance may contribute to the development of new malaria treatments.

26 Sep 2011

WHO issues new guidelines for malaria treatment

The World Health Organization (WHO) is releasing new guidelines for the treatment of malaria, and the first ever guidance on procuring safe and efficacious anti-malarial medicines.

11 Mar 2010

Antimalarial drug resistance endangers malarial control measures

Evidence of resistance to the antimalarial drug artemisinin and its derivatives threatens efforts to control malaria in Southeast Asia, and experts fear artemisinin resistance may spread from the Thailand-Cambodia border to affect other malaria endemic countries. Evidence to such effect was presented today at the 58th annual meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH).

20 Nov 2009

Artemisinin-based combination therapy for treating uncomplicated malaria

Current combination malaria therapies recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) provide adequate treatment for mild malaria, according to a Cochrane Systematic Review of the evidence. However, selected trials had high failure rates for some combinations and evidence for the effectiveness of anti-malarial therapies is lacking in some vulnerable groups.

7 Jul 2009

NEJM Letters respond to recent studies on malaria vaccines, treatments

The New England Journal of Medicine in its March 19 issue featured a letter to the editor written in response to a study published in its Dec. 11 issue reporting the results of the RTS,S/AS01E malaria vaccine trial.

23 Mar 2009

Combo malaria treatment dihydroartemisinin and piperaquine shows promise

The results of two new large scale trials show that the combination of dihydroartemisinin and piperaquine (DHA+PQP) not only is effective against uncomplicated malaria in a way which is comparable to other artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs), but it also protects patients against new infections for at least two months after treatment.

19 Jan 2009