A gift to the world, "Artemisinin Research" continues to help the world fight malaria

Xinhua News Agency reporters Tian Xiaohang and Mu Tiecheng

Malaria, an ancient acute infectious disease caused by the malaria parasite, still threatens human health today. According to the World Health Organization's latest World Malaria Report 2021, there will be an estimated 241 million malaria cases worldwide in 2020, and 627 000 people will die of malaria.

Artemisinin-based combination therapies have been widely used to treat malaria over the past 20 years, and "China Grass" has saved millions of lives around the world. Half a century after the discovery of artemisinin, researchers have been working tirelessly to achieve who's goal of reducing malaria incidence and mortality by at least 90% compared to 2015 levels by 2030.

"Chinese Sacred Grass" benefits the world

On a green spring day, in the laboratory of the Artemisinin Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, modern instruments are constantly running in the roar, assisting researchers in the screening, separation and purification of drugs...

Traveling back in time and space to 50 years ago, in the case of chloroquine antimalarial failure and human suffering from malaria, Tu Youyou, who was appointed as the leader of the antimalarial research team of traditional Chinese medicine in the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, led the scientific research team to overcome various unfavorable conditions and discovered artemisinin after a large number of experiments.

"Artemisinin is a small step in the process of human conquest of malaria and a gift from traditional Chinese medicine to the world." Half a century later, artemisinin remains the world's leading antimalarial drug.

"Due to the multi-target effect, at present, artemisinin itself does not appear significantly resistant." Liao Fulong, a member of Tu Youyou's team and a researcher at the Institute of Chinese Materia Medica of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said that at present, there are five or six major formulas for the treatment of malaria in the world, and artesunate, a derivative of artemisinin, appears in four of them.

Combination artemisinin-based therapies, combined with preventive measures such as the promotion of insecticide-treated nets, have reduced global malaria incidence and mortality. According to the latest WHO data, antimalarial efforts saved some 10.6 million lives worldwide from 2000 to 2020.

Launched the "Compound Artemisinin Rapid Elimination Malaria Project", achieved zero deaths of malaria in the Comoros and a 98% reduction in the number of cases with the Chinese program; aided the construction of the Sino-Scientific Malaria Control Center and the Moerli Island Antimalarial Sub-Center, and trained more than 4,000 local medical and health personnel... China-Singapore antimalarial cooperation is not only fruitful, but its experience has also been promoted in many countries such as Sao Tome and Principe, Kenya, Togo and the Gambia.

"In the multi-country pilot project in Tanzania, the 'Chinese experience' has formed an innovative malaria prevention and control model, which shows that China's antimalarial experience is highly adaptable." Zheng Zhijie, chief representative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Beijing representative office, said that China's work model of malaria elimination has been written into the WHO technical document to be promoted to other countries, and the foundation will continue to work with Chinese researchers and disease control personnel to strengthen various forms of development cooperation, help other developing countries and regions accelerate the process of malaria elimination, and continue to innovate to save more lives.

Towards a malaria-free future

Artemisinin has made a huge contribution to the fight against malaria and has not stopped Tu Youyou's team.

The global malaria epidemic has rebounded since 2017. According to the World Malaria Report 2021, the number of malaria cases and deaths in 2020 was 14 million and 69 000 higher than in 2019, respectively, while about two-thirds of the additional deaths were related to the disruption of malaria prevention, diagnosis and treatment services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"The malaria epidemic is far from over, and the emergence of new situations requires researchers to redouble their efforts." Liao Fulong said that Tu Youyou's team currently takes the treatment of falciparum malaria, which is the most harmful, and attaches great importance to the research on the mechanism of action and drug resistance mechanism of artemisinin, and has published the relevant results as a series of papers, in addition, nearly 10 articles have been published to express their views on the clinical treatment of malaria.

At present, the preparation of artemisinin still relies on natural extraction. Due to the low content of artemisinin in wild artemisia annua, artificially grown artemisia annua is the main raw material source for extracting artemisinin.

Cultivation of new plants with high artemisinin content, construction of artemisia xanthana germplasm resource bank... In order to ensure that drugs are available, the Artemisinin Research Center has made artemisinin resources another research focus. Scientists have been able to improve artemisia annua varieties from a botanical point of view, and have been able to achieve an artemisinin content of about 2%.

Researcher Tu Youyou's studio displays windows

On 30 June 2021, WHO issued a national malaria elimination certification to China. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "China has joined the ranks of more and more countries, showing the world that a malaria-free future is a viable goal.

In the future, we must do a thorough job in the research and development of artemisinin, turn the paper into a medicine, let the medicine cure the disease, and let the artemisinin better benefit mankind - this is not only Tu Youyou's determination, but also the goal of further efforts of his scientific research team.

Discover more "artemisinin" for human health

How can new technologies be used to make the artemisinin research center play a greater role in the prevention and control of malaria and other infectious diseases? This is what Tu Youyou cares about most now.

Although she is nearly 92 years old, as the director of the Artemisinin Research Center, Tu Youyou's concern for the team and work has not diminished, and the requirements for research work are very strict.

"We must do the most original innovation, according to the needs of the country, and seek truth from facts." Yuan Yanan, deputy director of the Personnel Department of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said that this is the principle that Teacher Tu himself has always adhered to, and it is also her requirement for the team of the Artemisinin Research Center.

Researchers have found that when talking to Tu Youyou now, the topics she is most interested in are still artemisinin and malaria, and it is precisely because of the responsibility and responsibility and gradual interest from it that there is a great collaboration in scientific research and there is a inheritance and innovation development.

Chinese medicine is a great treasure trove from which artemisinin was excavated. How to find more good medicines from the treasure house to benefit human health?

At present, Tu Youyou's team has more than 40 people, and the professional composition of the personnel has expanded from the field of chemistry to multiple disciplines related to biomedical research such as pharmacology, forming a multidisciplinary collaborative research model.

According to reports, on the one hand, the artemisinin research center should face the major needs of the country, focus on major clinical issues, and maintain the health of the people; on the other hand, it will actively explore important and basic life science problems, break the inhibition of thinking, and lay a solid foundation for original theoretical innovation and the research and development of innovative drugs with the help of emerging technologies.

Source: Xinhua Net