Artemisinin

Artemisinin is a plant-derived antimalarial drug obtained from sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), widely used in combination therapies for the treatment of malaria, especially Plasmodium falciparum.
Key Points
Discovered in the 1970s, marking a breakthrough when resistance to older antimalarials emerged.
Extracted from dried leaves of Artemisia annua using solvents.
Effective against all Plasmodium species causing malaria.
Acts mainly during the blood stage of infection.
Disrupts parasite replication inside red blood cells.
Rapidly reduces parasite load but has a short half-life.
Always used with another longer-acting drug as Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy (ACT).
WHO-recommended first-line treatment for P. falciparum malaria.
Important derivatives include artesunate and artemether.
Artesunate can be given intravenously and is used for severe malaria.