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Building a golden triangle
for the production and use of artemisinin derivatives
against falciparum malaria in Africa
Ebiamadon Andi Brisibe1,2*,
Edak A. Uyoh1, Fraideh Brisibe3, Pedro
M. Magalhäes4 and Jorge F. S. Ferreira5
1Department
of Genetics and Biotechnology, University of Calabar,
Calabar, Nigeria.
2Molecular
Bio/Sciences Limited, 124 MCC Road, Calabar, Nigeria.
3Department
of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty
of Veterinary Medicine, University of Maiduguri, Maiduguri,
Nigeria.
4Chemical,
Biological and Agricultural
Pluridisciplinary Research Center (CPQBA),
University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
5USDA,
ARS, Appalachian Farming System Research Center, 1224
Airport Road, Beaver, West Virginia 25813, USA
*Corresponding author. E-mail:
brisibe2002@yahoo.co.uk.
Accepted 12 December, 2008 |
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Use of the
conventional quinoline- and sulphanamide-based drugs for the
symptomatic treatment of malaria is gradually being replaced
by artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) due to
increasing resistance by the Plasmodium parasite.
This development has drastically increased artemisinin
demand world-wide, and Artemisia annua L. is
currently the only commercial source for the supply of this
vital antimalarial drug to the international market.
Recent advances, however, demonstrate that the production of
isoprenoid precursors in micro-organisms is a feasible
complementary strategy that would help reduce artemisinin
cost in the future. The
key genes encoding for enzymes regulating the
biosynthesis of artemisinin in planta are fully
understood to enable metabolic engineering of the pathway,
and results from pilot genetic engineering studies in
microbial strains thus far are very inspiring.
This review, therefore,
explores
the current status of artemisinin derived drugs against
malaria and highlights some implications of crop agronomy,
biotechnology and solvent extraction strategies in enhancing
the total yield of artemisinin for the production of ACTs,
which are responsible for saving the lives of countless
numbers of patients in malaria-stricken societies and are
currently in very high demand, especially in Africa.
Key
words:
Artemisia annua, ACTs, biotechnology, malaria,
Plasmodium spp. |
