Antimalarial drugs used in the management of viral infections-a perspective

Abstract

Antimalarial drugs are antiparasitic agents which are naturally derived from plants used in the treatment of malaria.There are various classes of antimalarial drugs seen.They are Artemisinin derivatives, aryl-amino alcohols, aminoquinolines and antimicrobial drugs.The mechanism of action of antimalarial drugs is to prevent the polymerisation of heme which results in the death of the parasite.Antimalarials are also used in the treatment and prophylaxis of viral infections which is being discussed in this review. Around 40 articles from Pubmed, Google scholar which are relevant to the topic are taken and discussed.The articles which don’t fall into the criteria are excluded.The points from the article are taken and discussed.The review methods,the different classes of drugs like artemisinin derivatives, aryl-amino alcohols, aminoquinolines and antimicrobial drugs are also discussed. The antimalarial drugs are widely used in the prophylaxis and treatment of various existing and emerging viral infections.Newer viral infections have no resistance against antimalarial drugs which proves to be very useful.