Yo yo, this is Luming Literature's voice. It's the Book of Songs. Open the book Artemisia annua and Artemisia annua medicine written by Tu Youyou, and the first page is a poem: "Yo yo Luming Literature, Artemisia annua". This famous sentence from The Book of Songs, Xiaoya, placed the good expectations of Tu Youyou's parents. Somehow, Tu Youyou's life is destined to be linked with this magical grass. Tu Youyou, as a pharmacognosy major, had an indissoluble bond with the development and application of natural medicines such as plants when he was admitted to Beijing Medical College.
Malaria is a worldwide infectious disease, which infects hundreds of millions of people every year and causes millions of deaths. In the 1960s, plasmodium, a parasite that caused malaria, became resistant to quinine drugs commonly used at that time, which had a serious impact. On May 23rd, 1967, the government of China launched the "Project 523", aiming at finding new antimalarial drugs and overcoming drug resistance. More than 60 scientific research institutions and more than 500 researchers participated.
1969 At the beginning of this year, 39-year-old Tu Youyou was appointed as the leader of the "523 Project" of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. On the one hand, she consulted China's classic works of traditional Chinese medicine and screened out more than 2,000 candidate formulas; On the one hand, go deep into the people and inquire about the secret recipe and prescription for treating malaria.
Tu Youyou and her team spent three months sorting out 640 samples from more than 2,000 Fang Yaozhong, including various plants, animals and minerals, and then screened out more than 100 samples. The finally selected pepper "has an inhibition rate of 84% against plasmodium, but its inhibition effect on plasmodium is not ideal"; Artemisia annua, which once had a 68% inhibitory effect on plasmodium, was abandoned because of poor re-screening. Although it can effectively inhibit the growth of parasites in animals, its curative effect is not sustainable. In order to find the answer, Tu Youyou plunged into the literature again.
Artemisia annua, also known as Artemisia ordosica and wormwood, is a common plant in the north and south of China. Although the appearance is unpretentious, it has the "divine power" to cure diseases and save lives. The antimalarial effect of Artemisia annua was first seen in the traditional Chinese medicine prescription "Elbow Backup Urgent Prescription" written by Ge Hong in the Eastern Jin Dynasty in 340 AD: "Hold Artemisia annua with two liters of water and wring the juice."
Why did the ancients "wring juice" from Artemisia annua instead of using the traditional method of boiling Chinese medicine? Tu Youyou realized that high-temperature extraction might destroy the effective components in Artemisia annua. So she redesigned the experimental process and used ether with lower boiling point as solvent.
This detail has become the key to solving the problem. 197 1 year1kloc-0/October 4th, Tu Youyou failed 190 times, and finally obtained the neutral extract of Artemisia annua with the inhibition rate of 100% in animals.
Is the antimalarial effect of Artemisia annua extract safe and effective for human beings? In order to get the answer as soon as possible, the scientists of the research group bravely acted as the first batch of volunteers. Soon after, Tu Youyou's research group obtained the purified substance of antimalarial effective monomer, and named it artemisinin.
The antimalarial effect of Artemisia annua has pushed open a door of artemisinin. 1973 artemisinin was first used in clinic, and 2 cases of falciparum malaria and vivax malaria were observed in Hainan province, and good results were obtained. 1979 In February, when the first English report on artemisinin was published, artemisinin research groups all over the country had used this drug for more than 2,000 patients. Comparative studies show that artemisinin takes effect much faster than chloroquine, and its side effects are greatly reduced. After that, the research results of Tu Youyou and his research group were also enjoyed by the whole world for free.
Jiang Cong 1983 to 1993 served as the director of the Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine of the Chinese Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine. What impressed me most was the persistence and dedication of Tu Youyou and her team. He said that their research process is very tortuous, and there are many difficulties in material selection, extraction and clinical trials. If there is no perseverance, the research may be suspended in any of these links.
Jiang clearly remembers that when doing artemisinin animal experiments, it was found that transaminase had a transient increase. Tu Youyou and her two colleagues, regardless of their personal health, decided to try it on themselves. Personally confirmed the safety of the drug, and then put it into clinical use for patients. At that time, the scientific research conditions and environment were poor. The vat filled with Artemisia annua soaked in ether always gives off a pungent smell ... Later, Tu Youyou got toxic hepatitis; Zhong Yurong, a member of her team, found a lump in her lung and removed part of her trachea and lungs. Another researcher, Cui, died very early.
In a blink of an eye for forty years, it seems that I have experienced a reincarnation. At that time, the high-spirited scientific team is now 80 years old, but in the view of Zhou Huijun, an associate researcher at Zhejiang University School of Pharmacy who has studied artemisinin for more than ten years, artemisinin is still recognized as the most effective antimalarial drug in the world. "It will benefit mankind more in the future."
According to the statistics of the World Health Organization, the mortality rate of malaria in African countries such as Tanzania and Zambia has obviously decreased in recent years, one of the important reasons is the wide distribution of artemisinin compound drugs. In Zambia alone, due to the comprehensive application of mosquito control measures and artemisinin drugs, the number of malaria deaths in 2008 decreased by 66% compared with 2000.
Artemisinin compound medicine is called "Chinese magic medicine" by African people suffering from malaria. Tu Youyou is also called "the mother of artemisinin".