Malaria is a disease caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium. The latest statistics show that malaria kills in excess of 1 million people and causes over 600,000 cases of acute illness per year. Historically, natural products have played a major role in the treatment of malaria. For centuries the Chinese medicinal plant, Artemisia annua has been used as an antimalarial herbal remedy. Subsequent chemical investigation of A. annua has led to the discovery of the antimalarial drug, artemisinin. Over 300 medicinal herbs are commonly used as antimalarial remedies in China. In this study, 100 herbals extracts were investigated for their antimalarial activity; 72 extracts showed >50% inhibition, while 54 samples showed >90% inhibition against a chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum line (3D7). Chemical investigation of the active extract from Picrorhiza kurroa has yielded 2 new and 9 known natural products. This presentation will discuss the activity profiles of the 100 medicinal herb extracts and the isolation and structure elucidation of several antimalarial natural products.
