In vitro effects of co-incubation of blood with artemether/lumefantrine & vitamin C on the viscosity & elasticity of blood

Vitamin C co-administration with artemether-lumefantrine abrogates chronic stress exacerbated Plasmodium berghei-induced sickness behaviour, inflammatory and oxidative stress responses in mice

This study evaluated the effects of vitamin C and artemether-lumefantrine (AL) on sickness behaviour and oxido-inflammatory response in chronically stressed mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Sickness behaviour severity was examined with weight and assessment of mice behaviours. Results showed that stress increased parasitaemia in infected mice. Vitamin C co-administration with AL increased parasite clearance over AL alone, and modulated inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-10, IL-12) and antioxidant parameters in plasma and brain tissue. Conclusively, stress worsens malaria-induced sickness behaviour and up-regulates the inflammatory and oxidative stress response. Co-administration of vitamin C with AL appears to counteract these detrimental effects.

Oxidative Stress in Malaria: Potential Benefits of Antioxidant Therapy

Malaria is an infectious disease and a serious public health problem in the world, with 3.3 billion people in endemic areas in 100 countries and about 200 million new cases each year, resulting in almost 1 million deaths in 2018. Although studies look for strategies to eradicate malaria, it is necessary to know more about its pathophysiology to understand the underlying mechanisms involved, particularly the redox balance, to guarantee success in combating this disease. In this review, we addressed the involvement of oxidative stress in malaria and the potential benefits of antioxidant supplementation as an adjuvant antimalarial therapy.

Ascorbic acid coadministration with artesunate–amodiaquine, up-regulated antioxidant enzymes gene expression in bone marrow cells and elicited biochemical changes in Plasmodium berghei-infected mice

One of the hallmarks of malaria infection is oxidative stress. This study was aimed at investigating the potential effects of coadministering a therapeutic dose of artesunate–amodiaquine (AS/AQ) with Vitamin C (Vit C) orally on some biochemical parameters and antioxidant enzymes gene expression in bone marrow cells of Plasmodium berghei-infected mice. Thirty male Swiss albino mice were divided into five groups of six mice each as follows: Basal control (not infected with P. berghei), Untreated (P. berghei-infected without treatment), Vit C, AS/AQ and AS/AQ + Vit C combination treated mice. Treatment was done twice daily for three consecutive days. Complete parasite clearance was observed on the second day of treatment in AS/AQ and AS/AQ + Vit C combination treated P. berghei-infected mice. Serum albumin and bilirubin levels were higher in the AS/AQ + Vit C combination treated P. berghei-infected mice compared with those treated with AS/AQ only. Artesunate–amodiaquine + Vit C combination increased superoxide dismutase activity and reduced hydrogen peroxide and malondialdehyde levels in P. berghei-infected mice when compared with the mice treated with only AS/AQ. Furthermore, AS/AQ + Vit C combination significantly up-regulated catalase and glutathione peroxidase-1 (GPx-1) mRNA expression compared with the mice treated with only AS/AQ. This is the first report linking AS/AQ to antioxidant enzyme gene expression in bone marrow cells. Our findings showed that AS/AQ and Vit C coadministration may be beneficial as it ameliorated oxidative stress and up-regulated antioxidant enzyme gene expression in P. berghei-infected mice.