Artemisinin Usage
Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene isolated from a traditional Chinese remedy (quinghao), is useful in the treatment of Fafciparum malaria,
including infections caused by chloroquine resistant strains. It is reported to clear parasitemia quicker than i.v. quinine, and is effective in cerebral malaria.
Artemisia annua is used as antimalarial drugs. Clinical application has shown that artemisinin and its derivatives have special effects
on treating the malaria and falciparum malaria, especially artemisinin which has stronger killing effect on Plasmodium falciparum
intracellular phorozoon than other artemisinin drugs, characterized by high efficiency, rapid efficacy, low toxicity and no
cross-resistance with chloroquine, etc. It can be not only used for treatment, but also for emergency treatment. It is applicable to a variety
of malaria such as falciparum malaria, vivax malaria, anti-chloroquine malaria and cerebral malaria, including dangerous type.
The most notable drug is dihydroartemisinin and its tablets. This drug has its antimalarial effect be 10 times as strong as artemisinin
with the recurrence rate of only 1.95%, thus having been rated as China's top ten scientific and technological achievements in 1992.
Artemisinin and its derivatives not only are excellent antimalarial drugs, but also have potentially attractive prospect in the treatment
of other diseases. Animal experiments have found that artemisinin treatment of Clonorchis sinensis can achieve a rate of pest control
being up to 100%; treatment of animal schistosomiasis can achieve a pest control rate of 33.8-99.3%. Application of artemisinin
treatment of discoid lupus erythematosus can achieve a total effective rate of 90%. Its efficacy in the treatment of dengue fever is significantly
better than morphine biguanide and other western medicines. Immunologists have also found that artemisinin can significantly improve the
lymphocyte transformation rate and enhance the immune function of antibodies. People haven’t found toxic effect of this product on the heart,
liver and kidney. People haven’t observed any significant side effects in clinical practice.