Title:Malaria and artemisinin derivatives: an updated review
Volume: 13
Issue: 13
Author(s): Muhammad Tayyab Ansari, Zafar Saeed Saify, Nighat Sultana, Imran Ahmad, Syed Saeed-Ul-Hassan, Imran Tariq and Munawer Khanum
Affiliation:
Keywords:
Plasmodium falciparum, Artemisinin, Artemisone, Artemiside, Dihydroartemisinin, Artemether.
Abstract: Malaria is the world’s most prevalent disease that affects 515-600 million people each year and about 40% of
the world’s population live at risk for this infection. The prevalence of morbidity and mortality from drug resistant malaria
(Plasmodium falciparum) is increasing in most of the developing countries, which is also a global threat because
international travel is common now and imported malaria is increasingly a serious problem. Since rapid schizonticidal
action of naturally occurring endoperoxides pharmacophore present in artemisinin against drug-resistant malaria has been
documented, researchers have focused more on artemisinin analogs than any other antimalarials. In this review, drugs of
choice about malaria i.e. artemisinin and its analogus/derivatives (arteether, artemether, artemiside, artemisinin,
artemisone, artesunate, dihydroartemisinin) have been discussed in detail e.g. bioavailability, formulation development,
stability, combination therapy, additional benefits, drug resistance and toxicity have been reviewed.
