Know details learn about ARTEETHER drug ?

 ARTEETHER 

BRAND NAME:- Artiz,Asth, Erod M etc.

ARTEETHER is used for chloroquine resistant malaria, falciparum malaria and other cerebral malaria cases. It kills malarial parasites by interacting with heme.Arteether is an effective anti-malarial medicine .

Arteether (i.m.) is slower acting than artesunate (i.v.) ,and appears to be less efficacious. It is used only in india. An injectable compound Arteether (i.m or i.v.) was produced in India in the 1990s.

Pharmacodynamic:-

In the body, artemether is metabolized into the active metabolite metabolite dihydroartemisinin. The drug works against the erythrocytic stages of P. falciparum by inhibiting nucleic acid and protein synthesis. Artemether is administered in combination with lumefantrine for improved efficacy. Artemether has a rapid onset of action and is rapidly cleared from the body. It is thought that artemether provides rapid symptomatic relief by reducing the number of malarial parasites. Lumefantrine has a much longer half life and is believed to clear residual parasites.

MECHANISM OF ACTION:-

 Arteether is not definitely know.

Involves an interaction with ferriprotoporphyrin IX (“heme”), or ferrous ions, in the acidic parasite food vacuole, which results in the generation of cytotoxic radical species.

The generally accepted mechanism of action of peroxide antimalarials involves interaction of the peroxide-containing drug with heme, a hemoglobin degradation byproduct, derived from proteolysis of hemoglobin. This interaction is believed to result in the formation of a range of potentially toxic oxygen and carbon-centered radicals.

PHARMACOKINETICS:-

Data on pharmacokinetics of arteether is limited and incomplete.

USED:- 

Treatment of malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum strains when other medicines are not effective.

SIDE EFFECTS:- 

Common side effects that this medicine could cause include headache, general weakness, nausea, leg pain, chills, vomiting, cough, pain at injection site, body ache, abdominal pain, dizziness, rigours and watery diarrhoea. It could also cause pneumonia, respiratory tract infections and weight gain. 

DOSE:- 

 3.2mg/kg i.m. on the 1st day, followed by 1.6 mg/kg daily for the next 4days . Switch over to 3  day oral ACT in between whenever the patient is able to take oral medication.

As directed by your doctor