Medicinal and mechanistic overview of artemisinin in the treatment of human diseases

Anna Maria Posadino; Roberta Giordo; Gianfranco Pintus; Soheb Anwar Mohammed; Ilkay Erdogan Orhan; Patrick Valere Tsouh Fokou; Farukh Sharopov; Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji; Zehra Gulsunoglu-Konuskan; Alibek Ydyrys; Lorene Armstrong; Oksana Sytar; Miquel Martorell; Ahmad Faizal Abdull Razis; Babagana Modu; Daniela Calina; Solomon Habtemariam; Javad Sharifi-Rad; William C Cho

doi:10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114866

Medicinal and mechanistic overview of artemisinin in the treatment of human diseases

Biomed Pharmacother. 2023 Jul:163:114866. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114866. Epub 2023 May 12.

Authors

Anna Maria Posadino¹, Roberta Giordo¹, Gianfranco Pintus², Soheb Anwar Mohammed³, Ilkay Erdogan Orhan⁴, Patrick Valere Tsouh Fokou⁵, Farukh Sharopov⁶, Charles Oluwaseun Adetunji⁷, Zehra Gulsunoglu-Konuskan⁸, Alibek Ydyrys⁹, Lorene Armstrong¹⁰, Oksana Sytar¹¹, Miquel Martorell¹², Ahmad Faizal Abdull Razis¹³, Babagana Modu¹⁴, Daniela Calina¹⁵, Solomon Habtemariam¹⁶, Javad Sharifi-Rad¹⁷, William C Cho¹⁸

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro, 07100 Sassari, Italy.
² Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Viale San Pietro, 07100 Sassari, Italy; Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, College of Health Sciences, and Sharjah Institute for Medical Research, University of Sharjah, University City Rd, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates.
³ Center for Ultrasound Molecular Imaging and Therapeutics, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
⁴ Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, 06330 Ankara, Turkey; Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA), Vedat Dalokay Cad., No. 112, 06670 Ankara, Turkey.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Bamenda, P.O. Box. 39, Bambili, Cameroon.
⁶ V.I. Nikitin Chemistry Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, Ayni 299/2, 734063 Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
⁷ Applied Microbiology, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, Edo State University Uzairue, Iyamho, PMB 04 Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria.
⁸ Faculty of Health Science, Nutrition and Dietetics Department, Istanbul Aydin University, Istanbul 34295, Turkey.
⁹ Biomedical Research Centre, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Al-Farabi ave. 71, 050040 Almaty, Kazakhstan.
¹⁰ State University of Ponta Grossa, Departament of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 84030900 Ponta Grossa, Paraná, Brazil; Federal University of Paraná, Department of Pharmacy, 80210170 Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil.
¹¹ Institute of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Slovak Agricultural University in Nitra, 94976 Nitra, Slovakia.
¹² Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Centre for Healthy Living, University of Concepción, 4070386 Concepción, Chile; Universidad de Concepción, Unidad de Desarrollo Tecnológico, UDT, 4070386 Concepción, Chile. Electronic address: mmartorell@udec.cl.
¹³ Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: madfaizal@upm.edu.my.
¹⁴ Natural Medicines and Products Research Laboratory, Institute of Bioscience, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPM Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia; Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Maiduguri, 1069 Maiduguri, Borno State, Nigeria.
¹⁵ Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania. Electronic address: calinadaniela@gmail.com.
¹⁶ Pharmacognosy Research & Herbal Analysis Services UK, University of Greenwich, Central Avenue, Chatham-Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK.
¹⁷ Facultad de Medicina, Universidad del Azuay, Cuenca, Ecuador. Electronic address: javad.sharifirad@gmail.com.
¹⁸ Department of Clinical Oncology, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Electronic address: chocs@ha.org.hk.

PMID: 37182516
DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2023.114866

Abstract

Artemisinin (ART) is a bioactive compound isolated from the plant Artemisia annua and has been traditionally used to treat conditions such as malaria, cancer, viral infections, bacterial infections, and some cardiovascular diseases, especially in Asia, North America, Europe and other parts of the world. This comprehensive review aims to update the biomedical potential of ART and its derivatives for treating human diseases highlighting its pharmacokinetic and pharmacological properties based on the results of experimental pharmacological studies in vitro and in vivo. Cellular and molecular mechanisms of action, tested doses and toxic effects of artemisinin were also described. The analysis of data based on an up-to-date literature search showed that ART and its derivatives display anticancer effects along with a wide range of pharmacological activities such as antibacterial, antiviral, antimalarial, antioxidant and cardioprotective effects. These compounds have great potential for discovering new drugs used as adjunctive therapies in cancer and various other diseases. Detailed translational and experimental studies are however needed to fully understand the pharmacological effects of these compounds.

Keywords: Anticancer; Antimicrobial; Antioxidant; Artemisinin; Pharmacological mechanisms; Safety profile.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Antimalarials* / pharmacology
Antimalarials* / therapeutic use
Artemisinins* / pharmacology
Artemisinins* / therapeutic use
Humans
Malaria* / drug therapy

Substances

artemisinin
Artemisinins
Antimalarials