(organic chemistry, pharmacology) An antimalarial drug derived from the sweet wormwood shrub, Artemisia annua, found as the active ingredient in traditional Chinese medical herbal treatment for malaria, chemically a sesquiterpene lactone - C₁₅H₂₂O₅.
artemisinin
Definition, parts of speech, synonyms, and sentence examples for artemisinin.
Editorial note
The drug the article is talking about contains artemisinin in combination with another substance.
Quick take
(organic chemistry, pharmacology) An antimalarial drug derived from the sweet wormwood shrub, Artemisia annua, found as the active ingredient in traditional Chinese medical herbal treatment for malaria, chemically a sesquiterpene lactone - C₁₅H₂₂O₅.
Meaning at a glance
The clearest senses and uses of artemisinin gathered in one view.
Definitions
Core meanings and parts of speech for artemisinin.
noun
(organic chemistry, pharmacology) An antimalarial drug derived from the sweet wormwood shrub, Artemisia annua, found as the active ingredient in traditional Chinese medical herbal treatment for malaria, chemically a sesquiterpene lactone - C₁₅H₂₂O₅.
Example sentences
The drug the article is talking about contains artemisinin in combination with another substance.
I'm not sure if things have changed, but I recall an approach is to give Artemisinin alongside another treatment, to prevent malaria from adapting.
Even if it was published in some obscure non-English language journal (see the artemisinin prize, for example).
The team extracted artemisinin from the wormwood in cold water, and a new (and old) way of fighting malaria was born.
Or artemisinin, which was discovered by Chinese researchers reviewing TCM texts discussing treatments for malaria.
Unfortunately, there is a growing amount of resistance to these treatments so people are taking artemisinin-based medicines and not getting better.
If artemisinin resistance were to become widespread too, it would be a disaster.
There's already artemisinin resistance starting in several places around the world, especially the Thai-Cambodia border, a very chaotic area with high endemic malaria.
The Chinese medicinal herb you're thinking about is sweet wormwood, from which we isolated artemisinin.
After all, this is how Artemisinin which is used as a cure for Malaria was discovered from a traditional herbal remedy from the 4th century.
Cinchona is the source of quinine, not artemisinin.
For instance: Artemisinin (qinghaosu) from artemisia annua.
Quote examples
In fact, there's already a weird carve-out like that for "natural" substances, so you can for example buy artemisinin as a "supplement" if you want to...
Proper noun examples
Artemisinin which treats chloroquine resistant malaria was derived from wormwood after looking for inspiration in ancient Chinese medicine.
There have been many success stories: an anti-malarial drug through yeast (Artemisinin by Amyris+Sanofi), a plastic precursor through bacteria (1,4-BDO by Genomatica+DuPont), and more.
Artemisinin being peroxide also acts through ferroptosis.
Frequently asked questions
Short answers drawn from the clearest meanings and examples for this word.
How do you use artemisinin in a sentence?
The drug the article is talking about contains artemisinin in combination with another substance.
What does artemisinin mean?
(organic chemistry, pharmacology) An antimalarial drug derived from the sweet wormwood shrub, Artemisia annua, found as the active ingredient in traditional Chinese medical herbal treatment for malaria, chemically a sesquiterpene lactone - C₁₅H₂₂O₅.
What part of speech is artemisinin?
artemisinin is commonly used as noun.