Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots?
Abstract Background The discovery and development of new anti-malarials are at a crossroads. Fixed dose artemisinin combination therapy is now being used to treat a hundred million children each year, with a cost as low as 30 cents per child, with cure rates of over 95%. However, as with all anti-in...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:801f29b5690a463c93bbdf1a136a5eb8 2023-05-15T15:14:28+02:00 Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? Wells Timothy NC 2011-03-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-10-S1-S3 https://doaj.org/article/801f29b5690a463c93bbdf1a136a5eb8 EN eng BMC http://www.malariajournal.com/content/10/S1/S3 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-10-S1-S3 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/801f29b5690a463c93bbdf1a136a5eb8 Malaria Journal, Vol 10, Iss Suppl 1, p S3 (2011) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2011 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-10-S1-S3 2022-12-31T08:48:42Z Abstract Background The discovery and development of new anti-malarials are at a crossroads. Fixed dose artemisinin combination therapy is now being used to treat a hundred million children each year, with a cost as low as 30 cents per child, with cure rates of over 95%. However, as with all anti-infective strategies, this triumph brings with it the seeds of its own downfall, the emergence of resistance. It takes ten years to develop a new medicine. New classes of medicines to combat malaria, as a result of infection by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are urgently needed. Results Natural product scaffolds have been the basis of the majority of current anti-malarial medicines. Molecules such as quinine, lapachol and artemisinin were originally isolated from herbal medicinal products. After improvement with medicinal chemistry and formulation technologies, and combination with other active ingredients, they now make up the current armamentarium of medicines. In recent years advances in screening technologies have allowed testing of millions of compounds from pharmaceutical diversity for anti-malarial activity in cellular assays. These initiatives have resulted in thousands of new sub-micromolar active compounds – starting points for new drug discovery programmes. Against this backdrop, the paucity of potent natural products identified has been disappointing. Now is a good time to reflect on the current approach to screening herbal medicinal products and suggest revisions. Nearly sixty years ago, the Chinese doctor Chen Guofu, suggested natural products should be approached by dao-xing-ni-shi or ‘acting in the reversed order’, starting with observational clinical studies. Natural products based on herbal remedies are in use in the community, and have the potential unique advantage that clinical observational data exist, or can be generated. The first step should be the confirmation and definition of the clinical activity of herbal medicinal products already used by the community. This first step forms a ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Downfall ENVELOPE(-62.366,-62.366,-64.800,-64.800) Downfall The ENVELOPE(-62.366,-62.366,-64.800,-64.800) Malaria Journal 10 S1 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Wells Timothy NC Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background The discovery and development of new anti-malarials are at a crossroads. Fixed dose artemisinin combination therapy is now being used to treat a hundred million children each year, with a cost as low as 30 cents per child, with cure rates of over 95%. However, as with all anti-infective strategies, this triumph brings with it the seeds of its own downfall, the emergence of resistance. It takes ten years to develop a new medicine. New classes of medicines to combat malaria, as a result of infection by Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax are urgently needed. Results Natural product scaffolds have been the basis of the majority of current anti-malarial medicines. Molecules such as quinine, lapachol and artemisinin were originally isolated from herbal medicinal products. After improvement with medicinal chemistry and formulation technologies, and combination with other active ingredients, they now make up the current armamentarium of medicines. In recent years advances in screening technologies have allowed testing of millions of compounds from pharmaceutical diversity for anti-malarial activity in cellular assays. These initiatives have resulted in thousands of new sub-micromolar active compounds – starting points for new drug discovery programmes. Against this backdrop, the paucity of potent natural products identified has been disappointing. Now is a good time to reflect on the current approach to screening herbal medicinal products and suggest revisions. Nearly sixty years ago, the Chinese doctor Chen Guofu, suggested natural products should be approached by dao-xing-ni-shi or ‘acting in the reversed order’, starting with observational clinical studies. Natural products based on herbal remedies are in use in the community, and have the potential unique advantage that clinical observational data exist, or can be generated. The first step should be the confirmation and definition of the clinical activity of herbal medicinal products already used by the community. This first step forms a ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wells Timothy NC |
author_facet |
Wells Timothy NC |
author_sort |
Wells Timothy NC |
title |
Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? |
title_short |
Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? |
title_full |
Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? |
title_fullStr |
Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? |
title_sort |
natural products as starting points for future anti-malarial therapies: going back to our roots? |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-10-S1-S3 https://doaj.org/article/801f29b5690a463c93bbdf1a136a5eb8 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-62.366,-62.366,-64.800,-64.800) ENVELOPE(-62.366,-62.366,-64.800,-64.800) |
geographic |
Arctic Downfall Downfall The |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Downfall Downfall The |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 10, Iss Suppl 1, p S3 (2011) |
op_relation |
http://www.malariajournal.com/content/10/S1/S3 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-10-S1-S3 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/801f29b5690a463c93bbdf1a136a5eb8 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-10-S1-S3 |
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Malaria Journal |
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10 |
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S1 |
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