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It is not just artemisinin: Artemisia sp. for treating diseases including malaria and schistosomiasis

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A Related Article was published on 23 February 2024

Abstract

Artemisia sp., especially A. annua and A. afra, have been used for centuries to treat many ailments. While artemisinin is the main therapeutically active component, emerging evidence demonstrates that the other phytochemicals in this genus are also therapeutically active. Those compounds include flavonoids, other terpenes, coumarins, and phenolic acids. Artemisia sp. phytochemicals also improve bioavailability of artemisinin and synergistically improve artemisinin therapeutic efficacy, especially when delivered as dried leaf Artemisia as a tea infusion or as powdered dry leaves in a capsule or compressed into a tablet. Here results from in vitro, and in vivo animal and human studies are summarized and critically discussed for mainly malaria, but also other diseases susceptible to artemisinin and Artemisia sp. including schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, and trypanosomiasis.

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Abbreviations

ACT:

Artemisinin combination therapy

ASAQ:

Artesunate and amodiaquine

CQ:

Chloroquine

DLA:

Dried leaf Artemisia

EIF2α:

Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2α

ERK:

Extracellular signal-regulated kinases

EOs:

Essential oils

IC50 :

Half-maximal inhibitory concentration

IkB-alpha:

Inhibitor of kappa B alpha

IKK:

I kappa B kinase

JNK:

c-Jun N-terminal kinases

MAPK:

Mitogen-activated protein kinases

NF-kB:

Nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells

PI3P:

Phosphatidylinositol triphosphate

PI3K:

Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase

PK4:

Protein kinase 4

PZQ:

Praziquantel

RSA:

Ring-stage survival assay

TID:

ter in die, three times/day

TNF-α:

Tumor necrosis factor alpha

Ub:

Ubiquitin

UPR:

Unfolded protein response

WHO:

World Health Organization

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Acknowledgements

Authors thank Impala Avenir Foundation, Mme Héléne de Cossé Brissac, Mr. Jean-Louis Bouchard, and the Ararat Fund at WPI for generously funding some of the studies herein. We are also grateful for Award Number NIH-2R15AT008277-02 from the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health that enabled PJW, MD and MJT for funding artemisinin bioavailability studies, and phytochemical analyses of the plant material used in treating patients. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health or the National Institutes of Health.

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  1. Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Road, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA

    B. M. Gruessner, M. R. Desrosiers, M. J. Towler & P. J. Weathers

  2. More for Less-Maison de l’Artemisia, Paris, France

    L. Cornet-Vernet

  3. IFVB-BELHERB, Niederanven, Luxembourg

    P. Lutgen

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  1. B. M. Gruessner
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Gruessner, B.M., Cornet-Vernet, L., Desrosiers, M.R. et al. It is not just artemisinin: Artemisia sp. for treating diseases including malaria and schistosomiasis. Phytochem Rev 18, 1509–1527 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-019-09645-9

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