Research progress on antiviral mechanism of artemisinin and its derivatives

ABSTRACT

Artemisinin, extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine Artemisia annua Linn., has a powerful antimalarial effect. With further research, artemisinin and its derivatives have been found to have antiviral effects against a variety of viruses from different viral families, including Herpesviridae, Flaviridae, and Coronaviraceae, and can inhibit virus-induced inflammatory responses. The possible antiviral mechanisms include alkylation of DNA binding domain of NF-κB P65 subunit, inhibition of plasmidic nuclear transport of NF-κB p65, production of reactive oxygen species or activation of carbon center free radicals to regulate host Keap1/Nrf2/ARE pathway to inhibit viral replication. The inflammatory response was alleviated by inhibiting the activation of NF-κB and ERK pathways induced by the virus. This paper reviews the possible antiviral mechanism of artemisinin and its derivatives to provide reference for artemisinin to fight new viruses and promote new use of old drugs. © 2022 by the authors.