ABSTRACT

Arternisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) are often used for the treatment of malaria due to their potentials to delay drug resistance in falciparium malaria had led to their increased use. Arthemither-lumenfantrine generate free radicals as their mode of action. Monosodium glutamate is one of the world's most extensively used food additives which is ingested as part of commercially processed foods as a flavor enhancer. Previous studies have shown the adverse effect of MSG on some organs which is caused by the free radicals produced by MSG. This study examined the effect of varied doses of arthemether - lumenfantrine on the zinc concentration in the serum and liver homogenate of monosodium intoxicated rats. The study animals, 30 male wister rats were grouped into six, group 1: control; group 2:therapeutic dose; group 3 :overdose; group 4: A known toxicant group; group 5: therapeutic dose +MSG; group 6:overdose +MSG, with respect to their average weight in each group as well as control in the samples. The artemether-lumenfantrine was administered twice daily and MSG once daily. The result for serum zinc concentration of the control group showed a non-significant (p>O.05) difference when compared with the other groups could probably be the conversion of two superoxide radicals to hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen by zinc in the serum, thereby reducing the toxicity of ROS because it converts a highly reactive species to a less harmful one .while that of the liver homogenate showed a significant (p<O.05) decrease observed in the zinc concentration of the MSG only group (114.64±2.47) which improved in the therapeutic + MSG group. The decrease in zinc concentration in the MSG only group of the liver homogenate when compared to the control could be as a result of the increased oxidative stress caused by MSG and the significant increase (p>O.05) observed in the therapeutic +MSG group could be that the artemether- lumenfantrine elicited a significant (p<O.05) in vitro antioxidant property and may protect against MSG induced oxidative stress by lowering the free radical action and increasing the antioxidant activity.