Coartem 20/120 is a first-line treatment approved by the WHO for uncomplicated malaria in most endemic countries, based on a dose of 3 tablets for 3-day adults. Each tablet measuring 140 milligrams (mg) contains 20 mg of Artemether and 120 mg of lumefantrine. Coartem 20/120 is also known as ACT (artemisinin combination therapy), since artemether is obtained from artimizinin, which, in turn, is extracted from Artemisia Annua L. and combined with lumefantrine (synthetic antimalarial). TCAs are the primary treatment for malaria falciparum plasmodium and the most serious in sub-Saharan Africa. All the old synthetic antimalarial drugs are currently ineffective. As such, WHO encouraged the adaptation of ACT as first-line treatment for uncomplicated malaria.
Depending on the method used, the recovery of the pharmaceutical grade sweet wormwood health benefits from the crude artemisinin class is approximately 30%. Therefore, 480 mg of artemetra in Coartem 20/120 will require 1440 mg of artemisinin, which is evenly distributed in the 24 tablets required for complete treatment.
Historical antimalarials
At this point, it may be useful to establish the prescribed 1440 mg or 1.44 grams of artemisinin, necessary for the treatment of the historical use of Artemisia, when its leaves are boiled in water and consumed as a therapeutic tea.
The typical shrub Artemisia Annua L. has a height of 1.5 to 2 meters and is almost round (significantly less in China). The content of dry leaves varies, but on average a shrub can produce 250 g. The typical artemisinin content in Artemisia, which is grown in China and Vietnam, is 0.06 to 0.1 percent, and the solvent extraction efficiency of hexane is 60 to 80 percent.
calculations
- Dry leaf. Content of an Artemisia board = 250 grams
- The average artemisinin content at 0.08% * 250 = 2.0 grams
- Extraction efficiency + purification = 0.7 or 70%
- Artemisinin output of a buffer 2.0 * .7 = 1.4 grams
- Requirements for artemisinin in ACT treatment = 1.44 grams
- Percentage of hives needed for treatment 1.44 * 100 / 1.4 = 100%
Conclusion
Given the above characteristics, the extraction of 1.44 grams of Artemisinin would require a little more than the totality of Lumus Artemisia L annual. Therefore, historically in China, the patient would require that almost all of the shrub be crushed or boiled for effective treatment, suggesting that In ACT, which are the main modern antimalarial drugs, a much higher artemisia annua cancer dosage than required is used.