Discovery and repurposing of artemisinin

Shi, Qiaoli1,2; Xia, Fei1,2; Wang, Qixin1,2; Liao, Fulong1,2; Guo, Qiuyan1,2; Xu, Chengchao1,2,5; Wang, Jigang1,2,3,4,5

2022-03-01

10.1007/s11684-021-0898-6

Frontiers of Medicine   影响因子和分区

2095-0217

2095-0225

Malaria is an ancient infectious disease that threatens millions of lives globally even today. The discovery of artemisinin, inspired by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), has brought in a paradigm shift and been recognized as the "best hope for the treatment of malaria" by World Health Organization. With its high potency and low toxicity, the wide use of artemisinin effectively treats the otherwise drug-resistant parasites and helps many countries, including China, to eventually eradicate malaria. Here, we will first review the initial discovery of artemisinin, an extraordinary journey that was in stark contrast with many drugs in western medicine. We will then discuss how artemisinin and its derivatives could be repurposed to treat cancer, inflammation, immunoregulation-related diseases, and COVID-19. Finally, we will discuss the implications of the "artemisinin story" and how that can better guide the development of TCM today. We believe that artemisinin is just a starting point and TCM will play an even bigger role in healthcare in the 21st century.

artemisinin drug repurposing cancer inflammation COVID-19 traditional Chinese medicine

SCI

英语

通讯

National Key R&D Program of China[2020YFA0908000] ; National Natural Science Foundation of China[82074098,82104480] ; Innovation Team and Talents Cultivation Program of National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine[ZYYCXTD-C-202002] ; CACMS Innovation Fund[CI2021A05101] ; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Public Welfare Research Institutes["ZZ14-YQ-050","ZZ14-YQ-051","ZZ14-YQ-059","ZZ14-YQ-060","ZZ14-ND-010","ZZ14-LFL-002","ZZ15-ND-10","ZXKT19018","ZXKT19021"]

Oncology ; Research & Experimental Medicine

Oncology ; Medicine, Research & Experimental

WOS:000769315000001

SPRINGER

Web of Science

1.China Acad Chinese Med Sci, Artemisinin Res Ctr, Beijing 100700, Peoples R China
2.China Acad Chinese Med Sci, Inst Chinese Mat Med, Beijing 100700, Peoples R China
3.Cent Peoples Hosp Zhanjiang, Zhanjiang 524045, Peoples R China
4.Southern Med Univ, Sch Pharmaceut Sci, Guangdong Prov Key Lab New Drug Screening, Guangzhou 510515, Peoples R China
5.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Jinan Univ, Affiliated Hosp 1, Shenzhen Peoples Hosp,Dept Geriatr,Clin Med Coll, Shenzhen 518020, Peoples R China

Shi, Qiaoli,Xia, Fei,Wang, Qixin,et al. Discovery and repurposing of artemisinin[J]. Frontiers of Medicine,2022.

Shi, Qiaoli.,Xia, Fei.,Wang, Qixin.,Liao, Fulong.,Guo, Qiuyan.,...&Wang, Jigang.(2022).Discovery and repurposing of artemisinin.Frontiers of Medicine.

Shi, Qiaoli,et al."Discovery and repurposing of artemisinin".Frontiers of Medicine (2022).