Malarial parasites utilize a unique pathway to degrade haemoglobin. Most of the haem which is released during haemoglobin degradation is incorporated into haemozoin. The mechanism of haemozoin synthesis and the structure of haemozoin are controversial. Neither chloroquine nor artemisinin appear to affect haemozoin synthesis in vivo. Artemisinin is activated by intraparasitic haem and iron into a free radical which then alkylates specific malarial proteins.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
S. R. Meshnick (1996) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 3 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: