Lumefantrine (or benflumetol) is an
antimalarial drug
Antimalarial medications or simply antimalarials are a type of antiparasitic chemical agent, often naturally derived, that can be used to treat or to prevent malaria, in the latter case, most often aiming at two susceptible target groups, young c ...
. It is only used in
combination
In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are th ...
with
artemether
Artemether is a medication used for the treatment of malaria. The injectable form is specifically used for severe malaria rather than quinine. In adults, it may not be as effective as artesunate. It is given by injection in a muscle. It is also a ...
. The term "co-artemether" is sometimes used to describe this combination.
Lumefantrine has a much longer half-life compared to artemether, and is therefore thought to clear any residual parasites that remain after combination treatment.
Lumefantrine, along with
pyronaridine
Pyronaridine is an antimalarial drug. It was first made in 1970 and has been in clinical use in China since the 1980s.
In a small (n=88) malaria study in Camaroon, pyronaridine had a 100% cure rate, compared with 60% for chloroquine.
It is one ...
and
naphtoquine, were synthesized during the Chinese
Project 523
Project 523 (or task number five hundred and twenty-three; ) is a code name for a 1967 secret military project of the People's Republic of China to find antimalarial medications. Named after the date the project launched, 23 May, it addressed mala ...
antimalaria drug research effort initiated in 1967; these compounds are all used in combination antimalaria therapies.
See also
*
Artemether/lumefantrine
Artemether/lumefantrine, sold under the trade name Coartem among others, is a combination of the two medications artemether and lumefantrine. It is used to treat malaria caused by ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is not treatable with chloroquine. I ...
*
Halofantrine
Halofantrine is a drug used to treat malaria. Halofantrine's structure contains a substituted phenanthrene, and is related to the antimalarial drugs quinine and lumefantrine. Marketed as Halfan, halofantrine is never used to prevent malaria and i ...
References
Secondary alcohols
Amines
Antimalarial agents
Chinese discoveries
Chlorobenzenes
CYP2D6 inhibitors
Fluorenes
Phenylethanolamines
Butyl compounds
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