Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Mar 20;3(1):9.
doi: 10.1186/2049-9957-3-9.

Development of antimalarial drugs and their application in China: a historical review

Chang Chen  1
Affiliations

Development of antimalarial drugs and their application in China: a historical review

Chang Chen. Infect Dis Poverty. .

Abstract

This historical review covers antimalarials developed in China, which include artemisinin, artemether, artesunate, and dihydroartemisinin, as well as other synthetic drugs such as piperaquine, pyronaridine, benflumetol (lumefantrine), and naphthoquine. The curative effects of these antimalarials in the treatment of falciparum malaria, including chloroquine-resistant strain, are especially discussed. Following the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), different combinations of artemisinin, or its derivative, along with another antimalarial drug were orally used to treat Plasmodium falciparum infections. The recrudescence rates were low, gametocyte carriers lessened, and the curative rate increased remarkably. The combination therapy effectively deferred the emergence of drug resistance in the parasite. The regulation "The guidelines and regimens for the use of antimalarial drugs in China" was issued to guide rational application and standardize malaria treatment in the country. As the recommended first-line drug to treat falciparum malaria in the world, ACT was adopted in the regulation. In response to the global initiative of malaria eradication proposed by the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Chinese government has set a target to eliminate malaria by 2020.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Chemical structures of artemisinins and semi-synthesized derivatives.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Chemical structures of synthetic antimalarial drugs.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Zhou ZJ. The studies and control on malaria in China. Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House; 1991. (in Chinese)
    1. Moore DV, Lanier JE. Observations on studies on two Plasmodium falciparum infections with an abnormal response to chloroquine. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1961;10:5–9. - PubMed
    1. Department of Disease Control, Ministry of Health of the People’s Republic of China. The manual of Malaria Control. 3. Beijing: People’s Medical Publishing House; 2007. pp. 274–277. (in Chinese)
    1. WHO. Guideline for the treatment of malaria. 2. Geneva; 2010.
    1. Zhang YZ. History of qinghao used as a drug and investigation of species. Chin Pharm Bull. 1981;16:197–200. (in Chinese)