Curative Medicine Aretemether Injection for Antimalarial

Curative Medicine Aretemether Injection for Antimalarial
 

Arthemether is an antimalarial for the treatment of multiple drug-resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum
malaria.
Chemically, it is a semi-synthetic derivative of artemisinin.
Artemisinin, also known as qinghaosu, and its semi-synthetic derivatives are a group of drugs that possess
the most rapid action of all current drugs against Plasmodium falciparum malaria. It was discovered by
Tu Youyou, a Chinese scientist, who was awarded half of the ***5 Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery.
Treatments containing an artemisinin derivative (artemisinin-combination therapies, ACTs) are now standard treatment worldwide for P. falciparum malaria.
Artemisinin is isolated from the plant Artemisia annua, sweet wormwood, an herb employed in Chinese
traditional medicine. A precursor compound can be produced using genetically engineered yeast.
Chemically, artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone containing an unusual peroxide bridge.
This peroxide is believed to be responsible for the drug's mechanism of action. Few other natural
compounds with such a peroxide bridge are known.
Artemisinin and its endoperoxides derivatives have been used for the treatment of P. falciparum related
infections but low bioavaibility, poor pharmacokinetic properties and high cost of the drugs are a major
drawback of their use. Use of the drug by itself as a monotherapy is explicitly discouraged by the
World Health Organization, as there have been signs that malarial parasites are developing resistance to
the drug. Therapies that combine artemisinin or its derivatives with some other antimalarial drug are the
preferred treatment for malaria and are both effective and well tolerated in patients.
The drug is also increasingly being used in Plasmodium vivax malaria, as well as being a topic of
research in cancer treatment.