India is one of the endemic areas where control of malaria has become a formidable task. Artesunate is the current antimalarial drug used to treat malaria, especially chloroquine resistant. The objective of the present study was to investigate the dose-dependent effect of oral administration of artesunate on the oxidative parameters in testes of adult male Swiss albino mice and ameliorative efficacy of curcumin, a widely used antioxidant. An oral dose of 150 mg/kg body weight (bwt; low dose) and 300 mg/kg bwt (high dose) of artesunate was administered for a period of 45 days to male mice, and ameliorative efficacy of curcumin was also assessed. The results revealed that artesunate caused significant alteration in oxidative parameters in dose-dependent manner. Administration of artesunate brought about significant decrease in activities of superoxide dismutase, glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione reductase, whereas lipid peroxidation and glutathione-S-transferase activity were found to be significantly increased. The results obtained show that oxidative insult is incurred upon the intracellular antioxidant system of testis tissue by artesunate treatment. Further, administration of curcumin at the dose level of 80 mg/kg bwt along with both doses of artesunate attenuated adverse effects in male mice.
The use of natural antioxidants as mitigating agents has become prevalent. Garlic (Allium sativum) is one such agent which has been proven to have antibacterial, antiseptic, antifungal, antiparasitic, anticoagulant and antitumor properties. The present investigation deals with the ameliorative effects of Allium sativum on the antimalarial drug induced hepato-toxicity. Artesunate is being used as an alternative anti-malarial drug against conventional drugs like chloroquine. Experimental animals were divided into six groups of six mice each. Group A served as the control group. Group B and Group C animals were given 150 mg/kg b.wt and 300 mg/kg b.wt of artesunate respectively while Group D mice were given 100 mg/kg b.wt of Allium sativum. Group E and F mice were given 150 mg/kg b.w of artesunate+100 mg/kg b.wt Allium sativum and 300 mg/kg b.wt of artesunate+100 mg/kg b.wt Allium sativum respectively. Results exhibited recovery and re-establishment of various altered indices as opposed to Artesunate treated groups. Thus, Allium sativum might be used as a potent mitigating agent against anti-malarial drug toxicity. However, further research is needed to completely elucidate the ameliorative efficacy of Allium sativum.
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