ABSTRACT

In malaria-endemic regions oftropical Africa, the treatment ofmalaria 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 ofMSG 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 14days of acclimatization. The Animals were sacrificed at the end ofthe experiment which lasted for 7days and liver homogenate and serum were taken to the laboratory for further analysis. A non-significant (p>0.05) 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 (I.12±0.01), overdose +MSG (8000mg/kg BW) group (l.ll±0.02) when compared against control group (0.97±0.15) in the liver. A significant (p<0.05) 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><0.05) 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>0.05) 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 oftoxicities 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.