Frontiers in Pharmacology (Oct 2017)
Artemisinin: A Panacea Eligible for Unrestrictive Use?
Abstract
Although artemisinin has been used as anti-malarial drug, accumulating evidence on the extended therapeutic potential of artemisinin emerges. Apart from anti-malaria and anti-tumor, artemisinin can also exert beneficial effects on some metabolic disorders, such as obesity, diabetes, and aging-related diseases. However, whether artemisinin should be applied to treatment of the wide-spectrum diseases is debating. Here, we discuss the predisposition of a raised risk of malarial resistance to artemisinin from consideration of the multi-target and non-specific features of artemisinin.
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