New antimalarial shows promise in animal studies
A new antimalarial drug has been shown to be effective
in studies conducted on rodents by researchers from the United States.
The drug is a carboxyphenyl trioxane derived from
Artemisia annua, a herb that has been used in traditional Chinese
medicine to treat malaria.
Dr Gary Posner, department of chemistry, Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, Maryland, presented the findings at the annual
meeting of the American Chemical Society in Chicago on 29 August.
He said that results achieved with their carboxyphenyl
trioxane compared favourably with those seen with artelinic acid, another
artemisia derivative, which is being developed for use in malaria.
In addition, the carboxyphenyl trioxane appeared
to be less toxic than artelinic acid. “More direct preclinical testing
in larger animals is now appropriate,” he said.
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