Articles
Artemisia sp. and malaria: a preventive potential?
Article number
1462_20
Pages
133 – 142
Language
English
Abstract
Malaria elimination remains challenged by the silent liver stages of Plasmodium, the hypnozoites that drive relapses in Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium ovale infections.
While Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra are traditionally used against malaria, their activity against pre-erythrocytic stages remains poorly characterized.
Here, we investigate the prophylactic and curative effects of Artemisia infusions on rodent, simian, and human malaria liver stages using in vitro hepatocyte cultures models.
Both infusions markedly inhibited liver-stage development when administered prophylactically, reducing schizont burden and markedly impairing hypnozoite formation.
Pre-exposure of sporozoites to Artemisia infusions blocked hepatocyte invasion without affecting parasite viability or motility, indicating a non-toxic invasion-inhibitory mechanism.
In contrast, delayed curative treatments induced profound morphological alterations but showed limited efficacy against established hypnozoites.
Mechanistically, Artemisia infusions disrupted apicoplast integrity across multiple Plasmodium species and developmental stages, including dormant forms.
These findings identify a multi-stage, apicoplast-targeting activity of Artemisia infusions with strong prophylactic potential and support their further evaluation as complementary tools for malaria prevention and relapse control, including exploration of synergistic combinations with conventional therapies.
While Artemisia annua and Artemisia afra are traditionally used against malaria, their activity against pre-erythrocytic stages remains poorly characterized.
Here, we investigate the prophylactic and curative effects of Artemisia infusions on rodent, simian, and human malaria liver stages using in vitro hepatocyte cultures models.
Both infusions markedly inhibited liver-stage development when administered prophylactically, reducing schizont burden and markedly impairing hypnozoite formation.
Pre-exposure of sporozoites to Artemisia infusions blocked hepatocyte invasion without affecting parasite viability or motility, indicating a non-toxic invasion-inhibitory mechanism.
In contrast, delayed curative treatments induced profound morphological alterations but showed limited efficacy against established hypnozoites.
Mechanistically, Artemisia infusions disrupted apicoplast integrity across multiple Plasmodium species and developmental stages, including dormant forms.
These findings identify a multi-stage, apicoplast-targeting activity of Artemisia infusions with strong prophylactic potential and support their further evaluation as complementary tools for malaria prevention and relapse control, including exploration of synergistic combinations with conventional therapies.
Publication
Authors
N. Amanzougaghene, J.F. Franetich, V. Soulard, R. Duval, D. Mazier
Keywords
Artemisia annua, Artemisia afra, malaria prevention, sporozoites, hepatic stages, hypnozoites, apicoplast, adjuvant on enhancing immune responses
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