Section of Immunology & Joint Immunology Program, Guangdong Provincial Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences & Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine, the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
Front Immunol. 2021 Sep 9;12:751772. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.751772. eCollection 2021.
Artemisinin and its derivatives (ARTs) are known as conventional antimalarial drugs with clinical safety and efficacy. Youyou Tu was awarded a Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine due to her discovery of artemisinin and its therapeutic effects on malaria. Apart from antimalarial effects, mounting evidence has demonstrated that ARTs exert therapeutic effects on inflammation and autoimmune disorders because of their anti-inflammatory and immunoregulatory properties. In this aspect, tremendous progress has been made during the past five to seven years. Therefore, the present review summarizes recent studies that have explored the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of ARTs on autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection. In this review, we also discuss the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the immunomodulatory effects of ARTs. Recent preclinical studies will help lay the groundwork for clinical trials using ARTs to treat various immune-based disorders, especially autoimmune diseases.
青蒿素及其衍生物（ARTs）是众所周知的具有临床安全性和疗效的传统抗疟药物。屠呦呦因发现青蒿素及其对疟疾的治疗作用而获得诺贝尔生理学或医学奖。除了抗疟作用外，越来越多的证据表明，由于其抗炎和免疫调节特性，ARTs 对炎症和自身免疫性疾病具有治疗作用。在这方面，在过去五到七年中已经取得了巨大的进展。因此，本综述总结了最近探索 ARTs 对自身免疫性疾病和移植排斥的抗炎和免疫调节作用的研究。在本综述中，我们还讨论了 ARTs 免疫调节作用的细胞和分子机制。最近的临床前研究将为使用 ARTs 治疗各种基于免疫的疾病，特别是自身免疫性疾病的临床试验奠定基础。
