Esquistosomiasis

An acute and chronic illness, common in developing countries, caused by parasitic worms of the Schistosoma genus in infected water.
Every year more than 250 million people require treatment and another 800 million are at risk, causing a heavy economic burden on these countries. Currently it is mostly treated using praziquantel, but reports suggest resistance to this monotherapy is increasing. Phase III clinical trials are evaluating artemisinin and its derivatives dihydroartemisinin, artemether and artesunate to treat Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium parasites in combination with other molecules.

References:

• Elmorshedy H et al., 2016
• Gold D et al., 2017
• Liu YX et al., 2014
• Saeed MEM et al. 2016
• Sokolow SH et al., 2016
• Zhang XG et al. 2014

Parasitemia

Parasitemia refers to the presence of parasites in the bloodstream. The primary causing parasites are found within the genera Plasmodium (also causal of malaria) and Tripanosoma, causative of trypanosomiasis such as American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease) and African trypanosomiasis (African sleeping sickness). Clinical trials already at Phase IV suggest Artemisia annua leaf extracts are highly effective in treating these parasites.

References:

• Ho WE et al., 2014
• Kappagoda S et al., 2011
• Krishna S et al., 2008
• Loo CS et al., 2017
• Olivera GC et al., 2015
• Raffetin et al., 2018

Toxoplasmosis

Toxoplasmosis is caused by the protozoan Toxoplasma gondii, an intracellular parasite. Toxoplasmosis can cause mild and asymptomatic infections, but become potentially serious when affecting the immunocompromised such as HIV patients who are not on effective antiretroviral therapy; as well as causing congenital toxoplasmosis, a potential mortal infection affecting foetuses. Both artemisinin and its derivatives (in completed Phase III trials) as well as other components of Artemisia annua leaves have shown to have high potential to treat this parasitic disease.

References:

• Chorlton SD, 2017
• Gomes TC et al., 2012
• Loo CS et al., 2017
• Mikaeiloo H et al., 2016
• Rostkowska C et al., 2016
• Schultz et al., 2014