In vitro reduction of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes: Artemisia spp. tea infusions vs. artemisinin
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Abstract
Ethnopharmacological relevance Artemisia annua has a long history of use in Southeast Asia where it was used to treat "fever", and A. afra has a similar history in southern Africa. Since their discovery, A. annua use, in particular, has expanded globally with millions of people using the plant in therapeutic tea infusions, mainly to treat malaria.Aim of the study In this study, we used in vitro studies to query if and how A. annua and A. afra tea infusions being used across the globe affect asexual Plasmodium falciparum parasites, and their sexual gametocytes.Materials and methods P. falciparumstrain NF54 was grown in vitro, synchronized, and induced to form gametocytes using N-acetylglucosamine. Cultures during asexual, early, and late stage gametocytogenesis were treated with artemisinin, methylene blue, and A. annua and A. afra tea infusions (5 g DW/L) using cultivars that contained 0-283 μM artemisinin. Asexual parasitemia and gametocytemia were analyzed microscopically. Gametocyte morphology also was scored. Markers of early (PfGEXP5) and late stage (Pfs25) gametocyte gene expression also were measured using RT-qPCR.Results Both A. annua and A. afra tea infusions reduced gametocytemia in vitro, and the effect was mainly artemisinin dependent. Expression levels of both marker genes were reduced and also occurred with the effect mainly attributed to artemisinin content of four tested Artemisia cultivars. Tea infusions of both species also inhibited asexual parasitemia and although mainly artemisinin dependent, there was a weak antiparasitic effect from artemisinin-deficient A. afra.Conclusions These results showed that A. annua and to a lesser extent, A. afra, inhibited parasitemia and gametocytemia in vitro.
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A recent positive clinical test in humans suggested A. annua is quite effective at eliminating various stages of the malaria parasite including gametocytes, which has been verified in vitro.
“Traditionally A. annua was used as tea infusion and a recent positive clinical test in humans (Munyangi et al. 2019) suggested the plant is quite effective at eliminating various stages of the malaria parasite including gametocytes, which has been now verified in vitro (Snider and Weathers 2021).”
From Enhancing artemisinin content in and delivery from Artemisia annua: a review of alternative, classical, and transgenic approaches (2021) · cites this paper as Snider and Weathers 2021
The Abstract’s Conclusions report that A. annua inhibited asexual parasitemia and gametocytemia in vitro, supporting the in-vitro portion attributed to Snider and Weathers. But the Results section on gametocytes reports no significant reduction relative to the control for late-stage gametocytes by microscopy, so the paper does not verify elimination across the various stages claimed. The human clinical test is cited to Munyangi et al., not to this paper. (LLM, conf=0.85)
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- Authors
- Snider, D., & Weathers, P. J.
- Affiliations
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (US)
- Corresponding author
- Weathers, Pamela J.
- ORCID
- Weathers, Pamela J.
- Venue
- Journal of Ethnopharmacology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-03
- Volume
- 268
- Pages
- 113638
- ISSN
- 0378-8741 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7855472
- OpenAlex
- W3109845262
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 45
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 5
- FWCI
- 2.44
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Ethnopharmacology (publishedVersion)
- bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Malaria Research and Control
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Phytochemical compounds biological activities
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Ethnobotanical and Medicinal Plants Studies
- Keywords
- Plasmodium falciparum, gametocytes, Artemisia annua, Artemisia afra, tea infusion, artemisinin, antimalarial activity, gametocytogenesis, Pfs25, traditional medicine
- MeSH terms
- Germ Cells, Plant Extracts, Plasmodium falciparum, Tea, Artemisia, Artemisinins
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