Prophylaxis of malaria by Artemisia infusions: The key role of lysine

Since several years we try to understand why Artemisia infusions show a very efficient prophylaxis against malaria. This has been noticed in clinical trials and anecdotic reports in several African countries. Patrick Ogwang in his seminal work finds that Artemisia annua infusion consumed once a week is effective in preventing multiple episodes of malaria attacks and its mode of action may involve stimulation of white blood cells production especially monocytes.1 We have proposed several hypotheses, but were so far unable to verify them in vivo.2,3 Another hypothesis was based on the oxidative weakening of sporozoites by NO generated by arginine. Scientific papers on this topic are scarce.4,5 Another explanation for the prophylactic effect is resting on the high concentration of fatty acids in medicinal plants, and particularly polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). Preliminary studies had indicated to a research team in Norway a suppressive influence of fish oils on rodent malaria.6