Assessment of liver antioxidant status and mitochondrial membrane composition of Plasmodium berghei- infected mice treated with selected antimalarials

摘要

The present study was aimed at determining and comparingthe effects of Artecxin (ART), P – Alaxin (P-ALA),Lonart (LON) and Chloroquine (CQ) on oxidative stressparameters and mitochondrial membrane compositionin the course of malaria infection. Six groups offive mice each categorized as healthy control (nonparasitizednon-treated group), parasitized-non-treated(PnT), parasitized-chloroquine-treated (positive control),parasitized-Artecxin, -Lonart and -P-Alaxin-treatedgroups were used for the study. Hepatic antioxidantstatus was assessed with levels of malondialdehyde(MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) as well as activityof superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)in the post mitochondrial and mitochondrial fractions.Mitochondrial membrane integrity was also evaluatedwith activity of succinate dehydrogenase and levels ofphospholipids, cholesterol and proteins in the liver mitochondria.Results revealed that treatment of parasitizedmice with the antimalarial drugs significantly(p<0.05) decreased hepatic malondialdehyde (MDA) andmitochondrial membrane phospholipids compared toparasitized untreated group. On the other hand, significantly(p<0.05) elevated succinate dehydrogenase (SDH)activity, mitochondrial membrane cholesterol level, GSHconcentration, catalase (CAT) and superoxide dismutase(SOD) activity in the post mitochondrial fraction wereobtained. Thus, antimalarial drugs distort mitochondrialmembrane integrity and electron transfer but reduce themalaria-induced oxidative stress on the host.