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dc.contributor.authorMostafa, Elfawal A.
dc.contributor.authorTowler, Melissa J.
dc.contributor.authorReich, Nicholas G.
dc.contributor.authorGolenbock, Douglas T.
dc.contributor.authorWeathers, Pamela J.
dc.contributor.authorRich, Stephen M.
dc.date2022-08-11T08:09:10.000
dc.date.accessioned2022-08-23T16:19:53Z
dc.date.available2022-08-23T16:19:53Z
dc.date.issued2012-12-20
dc.date.submitted2018-03-15
dc.identifier.citation<p>PLoS One. 2012 Dec 20;7(12):e52746. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0052746. Epub 2012 Dec 20. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0052746">Link to article on publisher's site</a></p>
dc.identifier.issn1932-6203 (Linking)
dc.identifier.doi10.1371/journal.pone.0052746
dc.identifier.pmid23289055
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/35156
dc.description.abstractDrugs are primary weapons for reducing malaria in human populations. However emergence of resistant parasites has repeatedly curtailed the lifespan of each drug that is developed and deployed. Currently the most effective anti-malarial is artemisinin, which is extracted from the leaves of Artemisia annua. Due to poor pharmacokinetic properties and prudent efforts to curtail resistance to monotherapies, artemisinin is prescribed only in combination with other anti-malarials composing an Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT). Low yield in the plant, and the added cost of secondary anti-malarials in the ACT, make artemisinin costly for the developing world. As an alternative, we compared the efficacy of oral delivery of the dried leaves of whole plant (WP) A. annua to a comparable dose of pure artemisinin in a rodent malaria model (Plasmodium chabaudi). We found that a single dose of WP (containing 24 mg/kg artemisinin) reduces parasitemia more effectively than a comparable dose of purified drug. This increased efficacy may result from a documented 40-fold increase in the bioavailability of artemisinin in the blood of mice fed the whole plant, in comparison to those administered synthetic drug. Synergistic benefits may derive from the presence of other anti-malarial compounds in A. annua. If shown to be clinically efficacious, well-tolerated, and compatible with the public health imperative of forestalling evolution of drug resistance, inexpensive, locally grown and processed A. annua might prove to be an effective addition to the global effort to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality.
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.relation<p><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&list_uids=23289055&dopt=Abstract">Link to Article in PubMed</a></p>
dc.rightsCopyright: © 2012 Elfawal et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectArtemisia annua
dc.subjectmalaria
dc.subjecttherapy
dc.subjectImmunity
dc.subjectImmunology of Infectious Disease
dc.subjectInfectious Disease
dc.subjectParasitic Diseases
dc.subjectTropical Medicine
dc.titleDried whole plant Artemisia annua as an antimalarial therapy
dc.typeJournal Article
dc.source.journaltitlePloS one
dc.source.volume7
dc.source.issue12
dc.identifier.legacyfulltexthttps://escholarship.umassmed.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1370&amp;context=infdis_pp&amp;unstamped=1
dc.identifier.legacycoverpagehttps://escholarship.umassmed.edu/infdis_pp/369
dc.identifier.contextkey11785997
refterms.dateFOA2022-08-23T16:19:53Z
html.description.abstract<p>Drugs are primary weapons for reducing malaria in human populations. However emergence of resistant parasites has repeatedly curtailed the lifespan of each drug that is developed and deployed. Currently the most effective anti-malarial is artemisinin, which is extracted from the leaves of Artemisia annua. Due to poor pharmacokinetic properties and prudent efforts to curtail resistance to monotherapies, artemisinin is prescribed only in combination with other anti-malarials composing an Artemisinin Combination Therapy (ACT). Low yield in the plant, and the added cost of secondary anti-malarials in the ACT, make artemisinin costly for the developing world. As an alternative, we compared the efficacy of oral delivery of the dried leaves of whole plant (WP) A. annua to a comparable dose of pure artemisinin in a rodent malaria model (Plasmodium chabaudi). We found that a single dose of WP (containing 24 mg/kg artemisinin) reduces parasitemia more effectively than a comparable dose of purified drug. This increased efficacy may result from a documented 40-fold increase in the bioavailability of artemisinin in the blood of mice fed the whole plant, in comparison to those administered synthetic drug. Synergistic benefits may derive from the presence of other anti-malarial compounds in A. annua. If shown to be clinically efficacious, well-tolerated, and compatible with the public health imperative of forestalling evolution of drug resistance, inexpensive, locally grown and processed A. annua might prove to be an effective addition to the global effort to reduce malaria morbidity and mortality.</p>
dc.identifier.submissionpathinfdis_pp/369
dc.contributor.departmentDepartment of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Immunology
dc.source.pagese52746


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Copyright: © 2012 Elfawal et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as Copyright: © 2012 Elfawal et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.