Artémisia

chinese mugwort Chinese mugwort against cancer By Sciences et Avenir Quinghaosu is the Chinese mugwort Artemisia annua from which artemisinin, a molecule known for over 2,000 years, has been extracted. Quinghaosu is the Chinese mugwort Artemisia annua from which artemisinin is extracted, a molecule known for more than 2,000 years and rediscovered in 1972 to fight against malaria. Henry Lai and Narendra Singh of the University of Washington have shown the drug's effectiveness against cancer cells. The results are incredibly optimistic. In the journal Life Sciences, researchers describe how artemisinin kills all breast cancer cells within 16 hours. "Not only is the drug effective, it is very selective," says Henry Lai. "It is highly toxic to cancer cells but has minimal impact on normal cells." Used for 30 years against Plasmodium of malaria, artemisinin reacts with metal ions present in high concentration in the parasite. Very active, cancer cells also have many membrane receptors that increase the concentration of metal ions inside the cell. The researchers therefore came up with the idea of ​​using artemisinin to kill these diseased cells. The already impressive results against breast cancer seem even more positive against leukemia since, in this case, all the abnormal cells die within eight hours. “These cancer cells are among the most concentrated in metal ions,” explains Henry Lai. Studies should continue on live animals. Preliminary tests on a dog with bone cancer have been particularly encouraging.