Anti-mitotic effect of Lumerax and Curcumin on onion root tip system

Abstract

Artemether is a popular anti-malarial drug; it is an artemisinin derivative in which the lactone has been converted to the corresponding lactol methyl ether (figure 1A). It is used in combination with lumefantrine as an antimalarial for the treatment of multi-drug resistant strains of falciparum malaria (for treatment of acute uncomplicated malaria) (Kayla et al., 2012). Artemisinin is extracted from which is a Artemisia annua common type of wormwood native to temperate Asia.In traditional Chinese medicine is traditionally Artemisia annua used to treat fever. The proposed mechanism of action of artemisin involves cleavage of endoperoxide bridges by iron, producing free radicals which damage biological macromolecules causing oxidative stress in the cells of the parasite. Anti-malarial drug artemisinin and its derivatives have several other important properties which include anticancerous properties. This class of drug can be a therapeutic alternative in highly aggressive cancer with rapid dissemination, without developing drug resistance. They also exhibit synergism with other anticancer drugs with no increased toxicity towards normal cells. They arrest cell cycle at G /G and regulate several important 0 1 factors that control several pathways that effect drug response, drug interaction etc. Newly developed synthetic artesemenins have been reported to show considerable anti-neoplastic activity, but information is still scarce (Das, 2015a). Considerable anti-tumour activity has been observed in animal models when artemisnin derivative