Wednesday, October 12, 2011

ARTEMESIA ANNUA – CURE FOR MALARIA

Malaria has become major health problem in different parts of the world, including India. This is largely because, in a short time, the malarial parasite becomes resistant to the drugs discovered to get rid of it. It has become resistant to chloroquin, the well known drug for malaria and to newer drugs such as sulfapyrimethamine combination. We are left with no option but to treat the cases of malaria with quinine, an old drug but which have side effects.

Alternative medicine research from China has, however, been successful in providing us with another medicine for treatment of malaria from the plant Artemesenin injections or artesunate tablets, both derived from this plant, are used for treatment. Apart from this, there is quinine, available and useful for treating malaria caused by the dreaded parasite, falcifarum which causes cerebral malaria and which has become resistant to chloroquin. It would be interesting to see how the Chinese developed and observation made in a book, 1600 years ago, into a drug. These from the plant Artemesia annua are now available in India.

In an effort to discover drugs from their heritage, Chinese researchers found mention of the use of this plant when they looked into their ancient texts of medicine. In the Handbook of Physicians for Emergencies, written by Ye Hong six hundred years ago, it was stated that the plant, Artemesia annua (sweet wormwood) was useful in treating a clinical condition surmised by those reading the description to be malaria. It was stated that the quing hao tsu extract should be prepared not by the usual boiling procedure but by steeping and wringing out the plant at low temperatures. Scientists at the Chinese Institute of Traditional Medicine collected the plant and carried out a slow temperature extraction procedure. Had they used the boiling method, the effective principle of Artemesia annua would have been destroyed and this antimalarial drug would not have been discovered.

The Scientist isolated the active antimalarial principle and worked through for twenty years with patience and optimism to synthesise the drug and test it on patients of malaria. The results were remarkable and a new drug for malaria was discovered. The government of China formed a task force which extended to different parts of country to test the drug on a wider scale. All the results showed that not only did Artemesenin cure malaria, but it was also effective when the parasites had become resistant to chloroquin. Today this discovery from Chinese medicine is used in China, Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar.

At a recent meeting held at WHO (World Health Organisation ), Geneva, experts hailed the advent of quing hao tsu as a major achievement. The drug is now available as an intravenous injections an intramuscular injection and as tablets, capsules and suppositiories. It has been a long road from Ye Hong’s description to the use of this drug for chloroquin resistant malaria today.

The strategy adopted by the Chinese scientists in developing this plant substance into a modern drug could be followed by other countries, including India. This country also has a lot of ancient literature and books on uses of Indian medicinal plants for therapeutic purposes. Apart from one drug, guggal, Indians have been largely unsuccessful in discovering a plant extract which could be used for the treatment of any disease in the modern system of medicine. Perhaps a good look at the Chinese model used may be of some help to us.

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Chitika