Consumption of Artemisia annua tea and Resistance to Artemisinin in Africa: Scoping Review

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Abstract Background: The increasing popularity of Artemisia annua tea in Africa as an antimalarial remedy has raised concerns about its potential role in the development of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum, which could undermine global malaria control efforts. Methods : This literature review analyzed publications sourced from PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and other databases. Studies included clinical trials, laboratory investigations, and surveillance reports focused on Artemisia annua tea consumption and resistance patterns. Results: Data indicate a significant rise in herbal tea use in malaria-endemic regions, particularly where access to standard therapies is limited. Some studies suggest a possible link between non-standardized use of Artemisia annua tea and early markers of artemisinin resistance, though direct causality remains unconfirmed and findings are inconsistent. Conclusions: The uncontrolled consumption of Artemisia annua tea could contribute to artemisinin resistance emergence in Africa, highlighting the need for regulated use, further research, and continuous surveillance to protect the effectiveness of antimalarial treatments.
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Consumption of Artemisia annua tea and Resistance to Artemisinin in Africa: Scoping Review | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Systematic Review Consumption of Artemisia annua tea and Resistance to Artemisinin in Africa: Scoping Review Munyangi wa Nkola Jerome, Pierre Z. Akilimali, Abel Aizeque, and 6 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7410467/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background: The increasing popularity of Artemisia annua tea in Africa as an antimalarial remedy has raised concerns about its potential role in the development of artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum, which could undermine global malaria control efforts. Methods : This literature review analyzed publications sourced from PubMed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and other databases. Studies included clinical trials, laboratory investigations, and surveillance reports focused on Artemisia annua tea consumption and resistance patterns. Results: Data indicate a significant rise in herbal tea use in malaria-endemic regions, particularly where access to standard therapies is limited. Some studies suggest a possible link between non-standardized use of Artemisia annua tea and early markers of artemisinin resistance, though direct causality remains unconfirmed and findings are inconsistent. Conclusions: The uncontrolled consumption of Artemisia annua tea could contribute to artemisinin resistance emergence in Africa, highlighting the need for regulated use, further research, and continuous surveillance to protect the effectiveness of antimalarial treatments. Artemisia annua Herbal tea Artemisinin resistance Malaria Plasmodium falciparum Africa Drug resistance Antimalarial agents Traditional Medicine Public health Pharmacovigilance Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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