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QINGHAOSU (ARTEMISININ)—A
FANTASTIC ANTIMALARIAL
DRUG FROM A TRADITIONAL
CHINESE MEDICINE
Y
ING
L
I
Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
H
AO
H
UANG AND
Y
U
-L
IN
W
U
State Key Laboratory of Bioorganic and Natural Products Chemistry,
Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Shanghai, China
5.1
INTRODUCTION
Qinghaosu (1, artemisinin), a composition of the traditional Chinese medicine qin-
ghao (Artemisia annua Linnaeus, composites), is a special sesquiterpene with a
unique 1,2,4-trioxane segment and has excellent antimalarial activity, especially
for multi-drug-resistant parasites. Qinghaosu and its derivatives have been recog-
nized as a new generation of powerful antimalarial drug for combating the most
popular infectious disease, malaria, worldwide. Artemether and artesunate, two qin-
ghaosu derivatives and Coartem, were approved by the Chinese authority and col-
lected in the ''Essential Medicine List'' by the World Health Organization. These
qinghaosu medicines have been successfully applied to remedy several million
malaria-suffering patients since their advent. Meanwhile, over 1000 research papers
and dozens of reviews
1-16
have been published to record the rapid progress of
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