Abstract

Introduction:


Inappropriate prescription, dispense and administration of antimalarial lead to treatment failure.


 


Aim:


This study aimed to evaluate the effects of Plasmodium berghei infestation on structural integrity of the two key organs (liver and brain) in rats administered chloroquine, artesunate or seed extract of Phyllanthus amarus combined with vitamins A, C, B or E.


 


Materials and Methods:


Malaria parasitized rats and some non-parasitized rats were randomly distributed into experimental groups (n=5) as follows. 1:Parasitized control (untreated), 2:Chloroquine (20mg/kg), 3:Phyllanthus amarus seed extract (PSE) (300 mg/kg), 4:Chloroquine/Vit. A (66.67 iu/kg), 5:Chloroquine/Vit. C (0.056mg/kg), 6:Chloroquine/Vit. E (28.57 iu/kg), 7:Chloroquine/Vit. B (10mg/kg), 8:PSE/Vit. A, 9:PSE/Vit. C, 10:PSE/Vit. B, 11:PSE/Vit. E, 12:Artesunate/Vit. A, 13:Artesunate/Vit. C, 14:Artesunate/Vit. B, 15:Artesunate/Vit. E, 16:Artesunate (20mg/kg) and 17:Un-inoculated.All the drugs and extract were administered orally once daily for 5 days. Twenty hours after the last administration, brain and liver were harvested for histomorphological investigation.


Results:


It was observed that groups treated with combined vitamins showed lesions ranging from vascular congestion and perivascular infiltrates in groups administered chloroquine/vit C, marked congested vessel in those administered P. amarus/vit C and marked inflammatory cells coupled with marked activation of Kupffer cells in rats administered artesuante/vit C.  A common histopathological lesion in parasitized rats administered antimalarial with vitamins is capillary congestion.


Conclusions:


It could be concluded that the some combination of vitamins with antimalarial may hamper the mechanism of action of the antimalarial and not be beneficial. This may affect vital organ integrity like liver and brain; and ultimately their functions.