Artemisinin is an antiparasitic that is derived from the sweet wormwood plant, considered by some to be THE antidote to COVID-19.
Artemisinin targets 124 different parasite proteins.
The researchers were unsurprised to find that
the probe bound to a whopping 124 different proteins. “The highly reactive and
fast-acting nature of activated artemisinin suggests that it most likely has
multiple targets,” Lin says. The fact that the drug has developed only
low-level resistance after decades of extensive use bolsters this idea, too.
Artemisinin needs heme, an iron-containing component of the red blood protein hemoglobin, to be activated.
“The central finding is consistent with
previous lines of thought: Artemisinin has a fuse that is lit in the heme-rich
parasite, where it then indiscriminately attacks like a bomb,” says Leila S.
Ross, a postdoc studying malaria drug resistance in David A. Fidock’s lab at Columbia University.
“Artemisinin kills by jamming up a large variety of cellular processes rather
than a single pathway.”
It looks like Artemisinin is stronger than Hydrochloroquine. So whatever Hydrochloroquine can't take out, Artemisinin will,
Artemisinin
is effective against all the malaria-causing protozoal organisms in the genus Plasmodium. The drug is particularly useful in the
treatment of infections involving chloroquine-resistant parasites and infections
involving multidrug-resistant P. falciparum, which is the deadliest
of the malaria protozoans.
Good to know.
Artemisinin also fights different kinds of cancers.
Artemisinin is effective against a
wide variety of cancers as shown in a series of successful experiments. The
most effective is leukemia and colon cancer. Intermediate activities were also
shown against melanoma, breast, ovarian, prostate, CNS and renal cancer. Although
artemisinin is insoluble in water, it is able to cross the blood brain barrier
(the water soluble artesunate is the weakness among the derivates) and may be
particularly suitable for curing brain tumors, together with Poly-MVA (an
metalo-vitamin)
On dosage, Briticanna states that
Artemisinin
appears to have few side effects in humans. However, animal studies have shown
that high doses can elicit symptoms of neurotoxicity, including respiratory
depression and unsteady gait. These symptoms are associated with degeneration
of the brainstem, though it remains unclear whether similar
neurodegenerative effects occur at high doses in humans.
Looks like Dr. Mercola also knew of Artemisinin back at the beginning of the year.