China Remedy Shows Promise for Malaria : Medicine: The 1,500-year-old drug eliminated virtually all the disease-producing parasites within 24 hours, a study finds.

An ancient Chinese remedy for fevers also helps malaria victims by turning leftovers from “food” the parasites eat into poison, a University of Michigan study has found.

Artemisinin, first prescribed 1,500 years ago in China, eliminated virtually all malarial parasites within 24 hours, and it did so without significant side effects, according to a study by Dr. Steven R. Meshnick. He is a biochemist and a parasitologist with the university’s School of Public Health.

“It is the drug of choice in China since the late ‘70s. The international community is starting to use it recently, primarily because of drug resistance,” said Meshnick, whose work was funded by the World Health Organization.

The drug isn’t licensed for use in the United States, Meshnick said.

Malaria is caused by a type of protozoa. The parasites survive in people’s bodies by consuming hemoglobin from red blood cells. The protozoa “eat” the protein part of the hemoglobin and store the iron part of it as a molecule called hemozoin.

When artemisinin comes into contact with the hemozoin, the drug is converted into a toxic chemical that destroys the protozoa, said Meshnick, whose study focused on how the drug works.

Malaria, spread by mosquitoes, is a global scourge, particularly among impoverished populations.

Each year, malaria, which is prevalent in the tropical countries, affects up to 300 million people. It kills about 1 million infants and children every year in Africa alone.

In the United States, about 1,000 cases a year are reported to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; these are mostly recent immigrants or people who have traveled in places where malaria is prevalent.

Meshnick’s clinical study included 638 malarial patients in Vietnam two to four years ago. Since then, he has analyzed the data and followed the patients.

Artemisinin derivatives given in capsules or tablets destroyed 98% of the parasites within 24 hours, without significant side effects. The parasite reappeared in only 10% to 23% of the group that took the drug for five to 10 days, he said.

Patients who received the oral artemisinin for three days, followed by five days of the antibiotic tetracycline, also recovered. Only 9.5% suffered relapses, the study found.

“It’s been used as a remedy for a long time in China, but it hasn’t been as closely studied,” said Dr. Carolyn MacLeod of the Tropical Medicine & Travelers Clinic in Miami.

But artemisinin may well be “one of the solutions to the quinine-resistant malarias, which are increasing in Southeast Asia. It’s been fantastic over there,” she said.

Meshnick said the drug is also exciting because it is relatively inexpensive to produce. It is derived from the leaves of Artemisia annua , a weed.

“The message is we need to do more research. Malaria is a never-ending battle,” MacLeod said.

Meshnick reported his biochemical findings in the publication Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy last May, and his clinical findings in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene last March.