Oral Amodiaquine, Artesunate and Artesunate Amodiaquine Combination Affects Open Field Behaviors and Spatial Memory in Healthy Swiss Mice

Effects of amodiaquine, artesunate and artesunate amodiaquine combination on open field novelty-induced behaviors and spatial memory in healthy mice were studied. Forty mice were used in the open field and fifty each in the radial arm maze and Y maze;mice were assigned into four or five groups of ten each, Group A served as control (distilled water), Groups B, C and D received artesunate (4 mg/kg), amodiaquine (10 mg/kg) and artesunate-amodiaquine combination (4 mg/kg and10 mg/kg) respectively, while Group E animals (for the cognition tests) were given scopolamine (2 mg/kg). Drugs and vehicle were administered orally for three days. Results were analysed by one way analysis of variance followed by a posthoc test. Results showed that artesunate and amodiaquine either in combination or administered singly caused a significant increase in open field novelty-induced horizontal locomotion and rearing. Grooming in the open field showed increments in the artesunate alone and artesunate amodiaquine groups while significant reductions in spatial memory were also seen in the cognition models used.

Synthesis of zinc-carboxylate metal-organic frameworks for the removal of emerging drug contaminant(amodiaquine)from aqueous solution

We herein report the removal of amodiaquine, an emerging drug contaminant from aqueous solution using [Zn2（fum）2（bpy）] and [Zn4 O（bdc）3]（fum = fumaric acid; bpy =4,4-bipyridine; bdc = benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate） metal–organic frameworks（MOFs） as adsorbents. The adsorbents were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared（FT-IR） spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction（PXRD）. Adsorption process for both adsorbents were found to follow the pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the adsorption equilibrium data fitted best into the Freundlich isotherm with the R2 values of 0.973 and0.993 obtained for [Zn2（fum）2（bpy）] and [Zn4 O（bdc）3] respectively. The maximum adsorption capacities foramodiaquine in this study were found to be 0.478 and 47.62 mg/g on the[Zn2（fum）2（bpy）] and [Zn4 O（bdc）3] MOFs respectively, and were obtained at p H of 4.3 for both adsorbents. FT-IR spectroscopy analysis of the MOFs after the adsorption process showed the presence of the drug. The results of the study showed that the prepared MOFs could be used for the removal of amodiaquine from wastewater.

The antiplasmodial effect of the extracts and formulated capsules of Phyllanthus amarus on Plasmodium yoelii infection in mice

Objective:To investigate the antiplasmodial activity of the extracts of Phyllanthus amarus(P. amarus) on Plasmodium yoelii(P.yoelii)(a resistant malaria parasite strain used in animal stuthes) infection in mice.Methods:The aqueous and ethanol extracts of the whole plant of Phyllanthus amarus was administered to Swiss albino mice at doses of 200 mg/kg/day,400 mg/ kg/day,800 mg/kg/day and 1 600 mg/kg/day and the prophylactic and chemotherapeutic effect of the extracts against P.yoelii infection in mice was investigated and compared with those of standard antimalaria drugs used in the treatment of malaria parasite infection.Acute toxicity test was carried out in mice to determine the safety of the plant extract when administered orally. Results:The results showed that the extracts demonstrated a dose-dependent prophylactic and chemotherapeutic activity with the aqueous extracts showing slightly higher effect than the ethanol extract.The antiplasmodial effects of the extracts were comparable to the standard prophylactic and chemotherapeutic drugs used in chloroquine resistant Plasmodium infection although the activity depended on the dose of the extract administered.The extracts showed prophylactic effect by significantly delaying the onset of infection with the suppression of 79% at a dose of 1 600 mg/kg/day.Conclusions:The results obtained indicate that the extracts of the whole plant of P.amarus possess repository and chemotherapeutic effects against resistant strains of P.yoelii in Swiss albino mice.The findings justify the use of the extract of P.amarus in traditional medicine practice,for the treatment of malaria infections.

Prevalence, Clinical Features and Outcome of Neonatal Malaria in Two Major Hospitals in Jos, North-Central Nigeria

Malaria was thought to be rare in neonates. However, recent studies report increasing prevalence in neonates. Clinical features of neonatal malaria have also not been adequately reported. This study was undertaken to assess the prevalence, clinical features and outcome of malaria in neonates admitted into two tertiary hospitals in Jos, Plateau State. All consecutive neonates aged 0 - 28 days admitted into the neonatal units of Jos University Teaching Hospital and Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos were recruited into the study. Giemsa stained blood films of the neonates were examined by trained microscopists. Neonates with malaria had presenting clinical features recorded and treated with amodiaquine (1st line) and quinine (2nd line). Clinical features and parasitaemia were monitored for 14 days for outcome. Of the 301 neonates enrolled, 16 had malaria parasitaemia giving a prevalence of 5.3%. Congenital malaria accounted for 87.5% of cases of neonatal malaria. Plasmodium falciparum mono-infection was responsible for all the cases of malaria. ITN use in pregnancy offered some protection against neonatal malaria (CI=0.2 - 0.7). The median parasite density was 255 (72, 385) parasites/μl. Fever was significantly present in 10 (66.7%) of the cases (p=0.03). Fifteen of the 16 neonates had clinical and parasitological cure on treatment with amodiaquine. One treatment failure had cure after retreatment with quinine. There was no mortality in all 16 neonates treated for malaria. Malaria is not rare in neonates on admission in Jos. Fever is the commonest clinical feature of neonatal malaria. Amodiaquine provided effective treatment of malaria in neonates in Jos.

Adverse Events Clustering with NAT2 Slow Metabolisers following Deparasitization in Children in Bangolan, NWR Cameroon

Inter individual differences in the metabolism of antimalarials could be due to polymorphism of NAT2 gene. The authors determined the genotypic frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphism （SNP） of NAT2 gene and it＇s implication in antimalarial treatment during a vitamin A and zinc supplementation intervention in children aged 6 to 24 months. Children were deparasitized with artesunate-amodiaquine （ASAQ）-toddler 50/135 mg. Pharmacovigilance was done for 40 days, adverse events recorded and blood was spotted on filter paper for DNA extraction by chelex method. PCR-RFLP was performed with restriction enzymes KpnI, TaqI, and BamHl for detection of SNPs of NAT2. Allelic frequencies and phenotypes were compared between participants with or without adverse drug events. The prevalence of fast, slow and intermediate acetylators was 55%, 30% and 11% respectively. There was a significant association （P = 0.035） between NAT2 slow acetylators （and susceptibility to develop skin rash. No significant difference was observed between fast and slow acetylators and susceptibility to develop fever, anorexia, cough and common cold. Slow acetylators were more susceptible, （P = 0.011） to develop any adverse event The NAT2 slow acetylator phenotype was the most predominant and individuals with this phenotype were more significantly susceptible to develop adverse events to ASAQ.