DISCOVERY, BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES AND REPURPOSING OF ARTEMISININS: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

Malaria is an infectious disease caused in the human species by Plasmodium parasites. There are five parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and two of these species, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax, cause the majority of malaria cases and deaths. The WHO World Malaria Report 2021 reported nearly 241 million malaria cases in 2020 from 85 malaria-endemic countries. The discovery of artemisinin (ART) by Professor Tu Youyou and her team as a traditional medicine to conquer life-threatening diseases worldwide has saved millions of lives over the years. Professor Tu Youyou was rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015 “for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria”. These traditional medicines for malaria have continuously gained a reputation as an alternate drug, for their high efficacy against malaria parasites and safety profile. There has been an increased prevalence of antimalarial resistance to standard drugs such as chloroquine, quinine, proguanil, pyrimethamine, etc. Thus, artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) is currently recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and used as a first-line malaria therapy in endemic countries to treat uncomplicated falciparum malaria. Artemisinins are highly effective with rapid clearance of the parasites and minimal side effects. Presently, six ACTs are recommended by the WHO for treating malaria cases globally. Artemisinin-derived drugs have revolutionized malaria treatment and infused a newer emphasis on folklore and traditional remedies that can be used to derive novel phytochemicals or design chemical compounds with clinical significance. This article focuses on the pleiotropic activities shown by the traditional medicine artemisinin against various pathogens or disease conditions.