ABSTRACT

In malaria-endemic regions of tropical Africa, the treatment of malaria is usually based on fever,

rather than the confirmation of parasitemia.Artemether-lumefatrine is a combination of drugs

which increases cure and prevents further resistance through free radical production,studies

providing the evidence of MSG toxic effects have raised the increasing interest in MSG intake as

flavor enhancer.Superoxide dismutases are enzymes that function to catalytically convert

superoxide radical to oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. The aim of the present study was to

determine the superoxide dismutase activity in serum and liver of normal and MSG intoxicated

rats co-treated with artemether-lumefantrine.Adult male albino rats (n=30) were divided into

(6)groups containing (5) rats with similar weight. Group I (control); group II Therapeutic dose of

artemether-lumefantrine (AL); group III overdose (AL); group IV: A known Toxicant (MSG);

group V: Therapeutic dose ( AL) + MSG; group VI: Overdose (AL) + MSG. Procedure of

administration was duly conducted after l4days of acclimatization. The Animals were sacrificed

at the end of the experiment which lasted for 7days and liver homogenate and serum were taken

to the laboratory for further analysis. A non-significant (p>O.OS) difference was observed in the

SOD activity of therapeutic dose group (1.12±0.01),overdose (therapeutic x5)group

(1.12±0.01),MSG (8000mg/kg BW) group (1.14±0.00), therapeutic dose+MSG (8000mg/kg

BW)group (1.12±0.01), overdose +MSG (8000mg/kg BW) group (1.11±0.02) when compared

against control group (0.97±0.15) in the liver. A significant (p<O.05) decrease in superoxide

dismutase activity was observed in overdose (therapeutic x5) group when compared against the

therapeutic dose + MSG (8000mg/kg BW) group.A significant (p<O.OS) decrease in superoxide

dismutase activity was also observed in overdose (therapeutic x5) group when compared with

overdose + MSG (8000mg/kg BW) group. A non-significant (p>O.05) difference was observed

in the superoxide dismutase of overdose (therapeutic x5) group (1.13±0.00), therapeutic dose +

MSG (8000mg / kg BW) group (1.14±0.00), overdose + MSG (8000mg/kg BW) group

(1.14±0.00) when compared with the control (1.14±0.00) group, MSG (8000mg/kg BW) group

(1.14±0.00) and therapeutic dose (1.14 ± 0.00) group. In conclusion, our data indicated that

artemether-lumefantrine and MSG induced mechanism of toxicities in the liver and serum could

be associated with the induction of oxidative stress in these tissues. Artemether-lumefantrine and

MSG toxicity could pose more risk of oxidative stress in serum than to the liver.