21
August 2003
Malaria: Antimalarial mechanism
The artemisinins, such as artesunate and artemether, are potent antimalarials synthesized from the chinese herbal fever remedy Qinghao — also known as the sweet wormood, Artemisia annua. They are used for the treatment of severe malaria and in some areas of South-East Asia, combinations of artemisinins and mefloquine are the only reliable antimalarial treatment due to the spread of multidrug-resistant falciparum malaria. Although they have been used for centuries and studied for many years, their molecular target has only now been identified. The artemisinins act by inhibiting a the sarcoplasmic-endoplasmic reticulum ATPase (SERCA) of the malaria parasite. SERCA is a calcium pump, and it is the disruption of calcium homeostasis that appears to kill the malaria parasite. This suggests that transporter molecules in pathogens are valid potential drug targets.
Artemisinins target the SERCA of Plasmodium
falciparum
U. ECKSTEIN-LUDWIG, R. J. WEBB, I. D. A. VAN GOETHEM,
J. M. EAST, A. G. LEE, M. KIMURA, P. M. O'NEILL, P. G. BRAY, S. A. WARD
& S. KRISHNA
Nature 424, 957–961 (2003); doi:10.1038/nature01813
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Malaria: To kill a parasite
ROBERT G. RIDLEY
Artemisinins have been used since ancient times to treat malaria. A new
theory could explain how this age-old medicine is able to cause the death
of the malaria parasite.
Nature 424, 887–889 (2003); doi:10.1038/424887a
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