Artemisia annua
Written By: Tawan Petpaiboon
June 27, 2020
German researchers have recently confirmed that a chemical substance extracted from a plant can cure the coronavirus. The plant is called Artemisia annua, also known as sweet wormwood. The main chemical extract that could cure the coronavirus is called “artemisinin.” This chemical substance is also found in tea and coffee. Furthermore, A. annua has been used against other diseases as well, such as malaria. When extracting artemisinin from leaves of the plant with ethanol or distilled water, it is found that it can treat many virus-infected diseases. However, the German researchers stated that the extracted derivatives of artemisinin are much more effective than pure artemisinin alone. More research and experiments are being conducted to further study about this new treatment.
Professor Youyou Tu was awarded the nobel prize for her discovery of artemisinin. Artemisinin has played a big role in the reduction of the malarial mortality rate as well as the infection rate. Before this discovery, treatment of quinoline-based drugs was used. However, because there was an emergence of quinolin-resistant parasites, the artemisinin-based drug became preferred. Professor Tu conducted experiments using extracts from A. annua, and found that its derivative, artesunate, greatly cured the patients infected by malaria. How this drug works involves the reduction of gametocytes from the vector carrier of malaria, mosquitoes.
After knowing that the plant was useful, Professor Tu did further research on the specific substances that contribute to the plant’s benefits. Artemisinin then came to be known as “qinghaosu.” This substance can also be used as a treatment for several types of cancer. Artemisinin is hypothesized to have the target of action on the plasmodium that infects the red blood cells of humans. Other targets include the mitochondria of the plasmodium, its tumor protein, and its endoplasmic reticulum. Artemisinin also has a type of peroxide that destroys the parasite’s protein.
Artemisinin works fast on the patient. However, its duration of action is quite short. Therefore, it is usually used in a combined form with other antimalarial drugs. In animals, artemisinin has shown a side effect of neurotoxicity.
Artemisinin has been an important contribution to the cures of many diseases. Not only is it rich in benefits, but it’s also quite cheap compared to other drugs. As a result, this natural drug is globally used to treat many diseases. However, scientists should acknowledge the danger of drug resistance. That is the reason that it is usually combined with other drugs to create a variety of treatment.
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