A common anti-malarial drug could help to reduce organ failure following injury, British researchers reported last night.
An early study in rats has been so successful that human clinical trials are being planned to test the effectiveness of Artesunate in saving the lives of major trauma patients.
The research, led by Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), found that the drug, which is used to treat malaria, is also effective for treating severe haemorrhage and blood loss in rats.
Lead researcher Chris Thiemermann, of QMUL’s Centre for Trauma Sciences, says that repurposing the affordable and safe drug could be a major step forward in cutting the five million a year trauma deaths that occur globally every year.
“Multiple organ failure affects one in three severely injured patients, and one in four of those will die,” explained Thiemermann.
“Those that survive still experience prolonged periods in intensive care, infections and other complications. But despite its catastrophic impact, there are still no specific treatments for organ failure.
“We’ve now discovered that the drug Artesunate, which has already been used by thousands of people with malaria, is also effective for treating severe haemorrhage and blood loss in rats.
“Not only is the drug extremely safe, having already been tested in over 180 clinical trials, but it is also cheap. It could therefore be a highly effective option for the NHS and the rest of the world, and we’re now getting ready to test its effect on organ injury in a human population.”
The study, published in the Annals of Surgery, showed that the drug had an impressive protective impact on organ integrity and reduced organ failure among injured rats, reducing the body’s excessive inflammatory response to injury and blood loss, and activating cell-survival pathways. A lower dose of Artesunate was also effective in haemorrhagic shock.
Artesunate, which is recommended by the World Health Organisation as the preferred treatment for severe malaria, has also been shown to have anti-cancer, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory effects. The Chinese scientist, Professor YouYou Tu, who found it in an ancient medical text recently won a Nobel Prize.
A two-year clinical trial is being set up at the Royal London Hospital, UK.
Sordi R, Nandra KK, Chiazza F et al. Artesunate Protects Against the Organ Injury and Dysfunction Induced by Severe Hemorrhage and Resuscitation. Annals of Surgery 2016 11 February 2016
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