ANALYSIS ANTI-MALARIAL DRUG: COARTEM 20/120

Aaron Beck, Alexis Balgeman, John N. Gitua (Mentor)Department of Chemistry, College of Arts and Sciences

Drake UniversityABSTRACTAnti-malarial medications such as chloroquine, artemisinin, doxycycline, Metakelfin, Coartem 20/120 and other drugs are used to treat malarial infections. In this experiment the antimalarial drug, Coartem 20/120 was analyzed to identify the presence of the main active ingredients. The extraction of such ingredients using the appropriate solvents gave a mixture of two components: Artemether and Lumefantrin which were further separated using the column chromatography. Characterization of such compounds involved the use of melting point determinations as well as infrared spectroscopic techniques.

BACKGROUND

Structure of Artemether Lumefantrine

Malaria disease is caused by the parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, which is transmitted from the bite of an infected mosquito. It occurs mostly in poor tropical and subtropical areas of the world. In areas with high transmission, the most vulnerable groups are young children, and pregnant women. The cost of malaria—to individuals, families, communities, nations—are enormous. The parasite grows and multiplies first in liver cells and then travels to the red blood cells. In the blood, the parasite continues to multiply resulting with the destruction of the red blood cells. Treatment of malaria depends on many factors including disease severity, the species of malaria parasite causing the infection and the part of the world in which the infection was acquired. Treatment should be initiated as soon as possible. Most antimalarial drugs work by killing the parasite or preventing its growth in the blood stage. The recommended dosage for these drugs depends on the type of antimalarial drug, its strength, and the form in which it is being used (such as tablet or injection). The dosage may also be different for different people. No antimalarial drug is 100% protective and must be combined with the use of other protective measures.

OBJECTIVE

Purpose of this project was: a) To extract the chemical compounds from the Coartem 20/120 tablet b)To characterize the isolated compounds using melting point and spectroscopic techniques

Infected Red Blood Cells Dead Red Blood Cells

PROCEDUREThe powdered Coartem tablets in a 250mL Erlenmeyer flask was extracted using ethyl acetate (3x10mL). All the yellow colored ethyl acetate extracts were combined in a 250mL Erlenmeyer flask, dried using sodium sulfate and then concentrated using rotatory evaporation to give a yellow solid. The Coartem tablet powder was further extracted using methanol (3x10mL). The combined methanol extracts were dried and concentrated using rotary evaporation to give a white solid. Both solids, yellow and white, were separately characterized using melting point and IR techniques.

RESULTS 

IR Spetrum for Lumefantrine

SUMMARY The two chemical compounds, Artemether and Lumefantrine were successfully isolated from the Coartem 20/120 antimalarial and characterized using melting point and IR.

FUTURE WORKFurther study of Artemether and Lumefantrine will involve their characterization using the NMR technique.

REFERENCES1. http://www.cdc.gov/malaria/index.html2. http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/antimalarial-drugs3. http://www.drugs.com/pro/coartem.html

Artemether Lumefantrine

Mass (g) 0.089 0.537

Melting Point oC 87-90 128 - 130

IR cm-1 3403, 3087,2948, 2865, 1713, 1632, 1583, 1483, 1076, 873