Malaria traditional medicinal plants

Examination of the Montenegro Achillea clavennae reveals the presence of three new chlorine-containing guaianolides 277-279 in addition to several known analogues (524). The first investigation of the Chinese medicinal plant Vernonia chinensis has uncovered the new chlorinated sesquiterpene lactones vemchinilides A (280), B (281), C (282) and E (283) (525). Vemchinilides B and E exhibit potent cytotoxic activity against the P-388 and A-549 cell lines. The structurally similar vemolide C (284) was found in the Cambodian traditional medicinal plant Vernonia cinera (fever, colic, malaria) (526). Indeed, vemolide C could be identical with vemchinilide A. 

Two naphthalene-isoquinoline groups of alkaloids, ancistrocladidine (53) and ancistrotectorine (54), were isolated from Ancistrocladus heyneanus Wall [295], and A. tectorius (Lour.) Merr [296], respectively. The members of the plant family, ancistrocladaceae, are distributed in tropical Asia and Western Africa. Some are regarded as traditionally medicinal plants. The root of A. tectorius has been used to treat dysentery and malaria [296],... 

Mohammed Sayed Aly Mohammed. Traditional Medicinal Plants and Malaria in Africa. In this book. 

Table I. Traditional medicinal plants (leaf and bark) preparations and doses nsed against malaria in Madagascar.

Artemisinin ( qinghaosu ) (12), a sesquiterpene lactone possessing animusual endoperoxide bridge, is a compormd discovered in the People s Republic of China flora Artemisia annua, which has long been used as a traditional medicinal plant for the treatment of fever. As a naturally occurring antimalarial, artemisinin may be employed as an option for the treatment of chloroquine-resistant malaria in China and some... 

Moore, S. J. and A. Lenglet, in M. Wilcox, G. Bodeker and P. Rasoanaivo (eds). Traditional Medicinal Plants and Malaria, (CRC Press, Taylor Francis, London, 2004), pp. 343-363. (Citronella and eucalyptus as mosquito repellents)... 

Artemisinin, the principal bioactive antimalarial compound and its derivatives from Artemisia annua, a Traditional Chinese Medicinal plant used against fevers and malaria, have yielded a potent new class of antimalarials. The anti-malarials derived from A. annua are considered an integral part of the solution where malaria has become resistant to other medicines and even in areas where resistance is not yet a problem (S). Artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) have been recommended in the countries where falciparam malaria - the most resistant form of the disease- is endemic (9). While ACTs for all would be the ideal strategy, it is most impractical for poor and remote communities, politically unstable areas, and people who dislike the use of modem medicine (10). 

This review has shown that many plants from Africa and other continents have been reported to be used to treat malaria in traditional medicine. Modem in vitro screens against the P. falciparum has confirmed the antimalarial properties for many of these plants and their extracts and clearly given the magnitude of the problem and the national costs due to malaria illness, death and suffering, the use of medicinal plants either in traditional manners and/or as leads for new compounds that may serve in the future for new anti-malarial drags presents scientific opportunities. 

With over 250,000 species, the plant kingdom contains biodiversity which reflects known and novel compounds with potential therajjeutic activity (2,82,83). Furthermore, the World Health Organization has estimated that 80% of people in developing countries are dependent upon plant-centered traditional medicines for their primary health care (84). The examples of quinine and artemisinin cited above illustrate the proven utility of compounds from plants in the treatment of malaria. Moreover, it is likely that additional plant-derived antimalarial drugs await discovery since the literature indicates that in vivo or in vitro antimalarial activities have been identified in a broad and varied spectrum of botanical families (85-92). 

Discrepancies between traditional knowledge and their confirmation in experimental models turn out to be a major problem in drug discovery involving medicinal plants. We suggest some plausible explanations as a basis for future work in Strychnos species and other plant species dealing with malaria. 

LimonoMs. A group of oxidized triterpenes of the plant families Meliaceae, Rutaceae, and Cneoraceae, closely related to the quassin(oid)s. Like the latter, the L. have antifebrile properties and show activity in the treatment of malaria. In traditional medicine the... 

Febrifugine was first isolated from roots of Dichroa febrifuga Lour. (Saxifragaceae), a Chinese medicinal plant traditionally used to treat malaria fevers. This alkaloid showed potent anti-Plasmodium activity, which was superior to quinine, and tmacceptable side effects, such as hepatotoxicity and severe emesis [128,129]. Its properties not only precluded its use as drug but also encouraged the synthesis of safer analogues [127]. 

Artemisinin is used here as an example of a plant sesquiterpenoid with both traditional value as well as with medicinal and social value in the twenty-first century. Research on artemisinin has also established new benchmarks for biochemical engineering and functional genomics of plant terpenoids. Artemisinin is a functionalized sesquiterpene with a unique peroxide linkage from the sweet wormwood Artemisia annua). Chinese herbalists have used it since ancient times, and it is now used for its unique efficacy to treat multidrug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Its medicinal importance has prompted studies into its biosynthesis and its biochemical engineering so that cost-effective methods for producing it in large scale and in consistent quality may be realized. 

The root of the plant Cryptolepis sanguinolenta (Lindl.) Schlt (Periplocaceae) is used in traditional African medicine to treat a variety of diseases including malaria, jaundice, hepatitis, urinary tract infections, hypertension, inflammatory conditions and stomach ache. Extracts of the roots are also used as a tonic often taken daily for years without evidence of toxicity. Various studies indicate that the crude extracts as well as the isolated alkaloidal constituents of the plant possess a number of interesting pharmacological properties. The focus of this overview is to highlight the potential of Cryptolepis sanguinolenta in modem health care. 

Traditional Chinese Medicine gave rise to new plant-derived anticancer drugs as well as to therapeutics for the treatment of drug-resistant types of malaria tropica [70]. Artemisinin (Qinghaosu), the bioactive principle of Artemisia annua, was identified in 1972. Its unique structure was proven by X-ray analysis... 

Qinghao (Artemisia annua L.) is an important medicinal herb, which has h>een used in the Chinese traditional system of medicine for many centuries. In 1972, Chinese scientists isolated (+)-artemisinin (7, qinghaosu) from the above plant, which is indigenous to China [27-30]. Artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone peroxide, whose structure and synthesis have been worked out [27,28]. It has marked activity against both chloroquine-sensitive and resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum and is particularly suitable for treating cerebral malaria as it is very fast acting [29-31]. 

Use Q. extracts are us in combination with other extracts in some antitussive and antiasthmatic preparations. The bark is used in traditional South American medicine for treatment of liver disorders, febrile colds, and for anti-allergic purposes it is recommended as a fever-lowering agent for malaria as well as an additive to phytopharmaceuticals with expectorant properties. Bark extracts are used industrially in South America to modify the tastes of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, milk products, and for other food technological purposes. Cell suspension cultures started from shoots of the plants produce only few alkaloids, including the new alkaloid aspidochibine, with a novel skeletal type, 3-oxo-14,15-dehydrorha-zinilam, 11-hydroxytubotaiwine as well as a new dioxopiperazine... 

While the mode of action of artemisinin is not yet completely understood, the drug was isolated in the 1970s from sweet wormwood Artemisia annua). The plant known in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat malaria for at least 1,600 years. 

---