The anti-malarial mechanism of artemisinin is a field of chemical research.
The research on the anti-malarial mechanism is a comprehensive research involving multiple disciplines, mainly involving knowledge in biology, pharmacy, chemistry and other fields. Chemistry plays an important role in the research on the anti-malarial mechanism. Blocking the nutrient supply of the host's red blood cells to the parasite causes the protozoa to starve for amino acids quickly, rapidly form autophagic vacuoles, and continuously discharge them, causing the protozoa to lose a large amount of cytoplasm and die.
Artemisinin, also known as artemisinin, is an organic compound with a molecular formula of C15H22O5 and a relative molecular mass of 282.34. Artemisinin is a colorless needle-shaped crystal, easily soluble in chloroform, acetone, ethyl acetate and benzene, soluble in ethanol and ether, slightly soluble in cold petroleum ether, and almost insoluble in water.
It has a special peroxy group, which is thermally unstable and easily decomposed by the influence of moisture, heat and reducing substances. Artemisinin is one of the most effective drugs in treating malaria drug resistance. Combination therapy with artemisinin-based drugs is currently the most effective and important means of treating malaria.
With the deepening of research, other effects of artemisinin have also been discovered, such as anti-tumor, treatment of pulmonary hypertension, anti-diabetes, embryotoxicity, anti-fungal, immunomodulation, anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti- Pulmonary fibrosis, antibacterial, cardiovascular effects and other pharmacological effects.
Chemical properties:
Artemisinin is a lactone, so it can react with hydroxylamine hydrochloride, and the product will develop color when exposed to iron ions. Although artemisinin contains peroxy bonds, compared with other peroxides, artemisinin is chemically more stable and does not decompose when heated to the melting point. Artemisinin can be quantitatively reduced by triphenylphosphine or iodide ions, and this reaction can be used for quantitative analysis.
Under normal pressure and palladium-calcium carbonate catalysis, the peroxygen bond of artemisinin can be reduced by hydrogen to generate hydrogenated artemisinin (C15H22O4). When artemisinin is treated with sodium borohydride, the carbonyl group of the lactone is reduced to form hemiacetal reduced artemisinin (C15H24O5).