Farmanpour-Kalalagh Karim, Beyraghdar Kashkooli Arman, Babaei Alireza, Rezaei Ali, van der Krol Alexander R
Department of Horticultural Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Laboratory of Plant Physiology, Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands.
Front Plant Sci. 2022 Feb 7;13:780257. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2022.780257. eCollection 2022.
Artemisinin is a natural bioactive sesquiterpene lactone containing an unusual endoperoxide 1, 2, 4-trioxane ring. It is derived from the herbal medicinal plant and is best known for its use in treatment of malaria. However, recent studies also indicate the potential for artemisinin and related compounds, commonly referred to as artemisinins, in combating viral infections, inflammation and certain cancers. Moreover, the different potential modes of action of artemisinins make these compounds also potentially relevant to the challenges the world faces in the COVID-19 pandemic. Initial studies indicate positive effects of artemisinin or spp. extracts to combat SARS-CoV-2 infection or COVID-19 related symptoms and WHO-supervised clinical studies on the potential of artemisinins to combat COVID-19 are now in progress. However, implementing multiple potential new uses of artemisinins will require effective solutions to boost production, either by enhancing synthesis in itself or through biotechnological engineering in alternative biosynthesis platforms. Because of this renewed interest in artemisinin and its derivatives, here we review its modes of action, its potential application in different diseases including COVID-19, its biosynthesis and future options to boost production.
青蒿素是一种天然生物活性倍半萜内酯，含有一个不寻常的内过氧化物1,2,4 - 三氧杂环戊烷环。它源自草药植物，以用于治疗疟疾而闻名。然而，最近的研究还表明，青蒿素及相关化合物（通常称为青蒿素类）在对抗病毒感染、炎症和某些癌症方面具有潜力。此外，青蒿素类不同的潜在作用模式使这些化合物也可能与世界在新冠疫情中面临的挑战相关。初步研究表明青蒿素或提取物在对抗严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）感染或新冠相关症状方面有积极作用，世界卫生组织监督的关于青蒿素类对抗新冠潜力的临床研究正在进行中。然而，要实现青蒿素类多种潜在的新用途，将需要有效的解决方案来提高产量，要么通过增强其自身的合成，要么通过在替代生物合成平台上进行生物技术工程。由于对青蒿素及其衍生物的这种新兴趣，我们在此综述其作用模式、在包括新冠在内的不同疾病中的潜在应用、其生物合成以及未来提高产量的选择。
