Mankil Jung* Pages 35 - 49 ( 15 )
Malaria is the most widespread infectious disease in the world today. This shocking reality is due largely to the emergence of drug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Although the eradication of the disease is not an attainable goal in the near future, many attempts to discover and develop new and more efficient antimalarial drugs have been made recently. Artemisinin (Qinghaosu) isolated from Artemisia annua is a novel sesquiterpene lactone bearing an unusual endoperoxide function. It has been shown to be a fast-acting, safe and effective drug against chloroquine- resistant and sensitive strains of Plasmodium falciparum. The main objective of this article is to review the literature of recent progress taken place in the chemistry of artemisinin and related compounds during the last two years(1991-1992).