Objective To investigate the pharmacological effects and mechanisms of natural medicine artemisinin and its derivatives. Methods The pertinent domestic and overseas literatures of recent years were reviewed and summarized. Results Artemisinin and its derivatives have unique structure, high efficiency with low toxicity. The pharmacological effects include anti-malaria, anti-tumor, immune function regulation, anti-bacterial, anti-fetation, anti-fibrosis, heat-clearing and detoxicating, etc. Conclusion Artemisinin and its derivatives play pharmacological effects in different ways, and have a good foreground in the application.
Objective To explore the effect of artemisinin on the apoptosis of pancreas acinar cells in acute pancreatitis (AP), and to study whether artemisinin can relieve the severity of AP. Methods ① In vivo experiment: twenty one Wistar rats were divided into the following 3 groups randomly: the normal control group, the AP group and the artemisinin group. The model of AP was established by injecting cerulein into the peritoneal cavity of rat. After establishment of AP in the artemisinin group, artemisinin was injected into the peritoneal cavity. Meanwhile normal saline was injected into the peritoneal cavity of rats of the normal control group and the AP group. The apoptosis of pancreas acinar cell was detected by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labeling (TUNEL). The activity of myeloperoxidase was detected by absorption spectrometry. ② In vitro experiment: the pancreas acinar cells of normal rats were isolated through twostep enzyme digestion, and cultured. These acinar cells were divided into 3 groups: the normal control group, the AP group and the artemisinin group. Then, the cells of AP group were cocultured with cerulein, and those of the artemisinin group were cocultured with cerulein and artemisinin. The apoptosis of pancreas acinar cells were detected by AO dyeing and the measurement of the activity of caspase3. And the activity of LDH and AMS in the culture medium of each group were measured. Results ① In vivo: the apoptosis index of the artemisinin group was sigificantly increased and the activity of myeloperoxidase was obviously decreased compared with the AP group (P＜0.05). ② In vitro: the apoptosis index and the activity of caspase3 of the artemisinin group were significantly increased compared with the AP group (P＜0.05); the activities of LDH and AMS of the artemisinin group were more decreased than those of the AP group (P＜0.05). Conclusion Artemisinin could contribute to the apoptosis of rat pancreas acinar cells, decrease the releasing of trypsogen, alleviate the activation of neutrophil and relieve the severity of AP.