Artemisinin

Description
Artemisinin (qinghaosu) is an antimalarial compound first isolated in pure form in 1972 by Chinese scientists from the herb qinghao (Artemisia annua). This herb (worm wood) has been used in Chinese traditional medicine to control fever for over 2000 years . Artemisinin is a compound with a peculiar structure, low toxicity and high efficacy even in severe chloroquine resistant P. falciparum malaria. Unlike current antimalarial drugs which have a nitrogen-containing heterocylic ring system, it is a sesquiterpene lactone with an endoperoxide linkage. The endoperoxide linkage is essential for the antimalarial activity of the drug. Artemisinin has been shown to be a potent schizontocidal drug both in vitro and in experimental animal models, but it has no practical effect against the exoerythrocytic tissue phase, the sporozoites and the gametocytes