A STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF INDUCED MALARIA (P.BERGHEI) ON THE TRANSKETOLAEE ACTIVITY AND RELATED BIOMEDICAL INDICES IN MICE AND RAT

Abstract

Induced cerebral malaria (P. berghei) studied in mice and rats produced significant loss in the activity of the energy, transketolase which resulted in elevated thiamine pyrophosphate percentage effect (TPP%E) indicating a significant decrease in thiamine (Vitamin B1) concentration in the rodents. While the plasma total protein concentration similarly decreased in all the experimental animals there was an increase in the level of ascorbic acid in the mice and a decrease in rats. The concentrations of the minerals and cholesterol showed significant deviations from their normal metabolism in both mice and rats. While the mean concentrations of copper and zinc were higher than the mean concentrations of their controls in the rats; they were lower in the mice. Similarly calcium and magnesium concentrations were higher than their controls in the intraperitoneally (I.P) infected mice and intraspinally (I.SP.) infected rats but lower in the intraspinally (I.SP) infected mice. When the data from the study were subjected to statistical analysis including tests of significance, the concentrations of the plasma total protein, ascorbic acid, minerals (copper, zinc, calcium and magnesium), phosphorus and cholesterol showed significant correlations with TKA as well as with TPP%E in cerebral malaria. As chloroquine is a common chemotherapeutic agent used in curing malaria, it was administered orally to the surviving rodents after some days of infection. The resultant effect was an increase in TKA and a decrease in TPP%E, indicating an increase in thiamine (Vitamin B1) content of the blood and brain of the rodents. The concentration of plasma total protein in the animals also increased. Ascorbic acid concentrations increased in the rats but decreased in the infected mice given chloroquine therapy. The mean concentrations of copper and zinc in the mice were still lower than the means of their controls despite increases in I.SP infected group. In the I.SP infected rats, however, the concentration of copper was lower than the control value while the concentration of zinc remained higher than its control. While the mean concentrations of calcium and magnesium remained higher than those of the controls in I.SP infected rats and remained lower than the controls in I.SP infected mice, the concentration of calcium in I.P. infected mice was higher than the normal value and that of magnesium was lower that the controls. The mean concentrations of phosphorus and cholesterol were higher than their normal concentrations in the I.P infected mice but lower in the I.SP infected group. In I.SP infected rats, however, there was an increase in their concentrations. The results, therefore suggested that the therapy produced a physiological condition in the rodents which caused a change in their disturbed metabolism and a tendency towards normalcy in the studied indices, thereby indicating that the abnormalities seen before the drug administration were mainly due to cerebral malaria Infection.