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Antimalarial efficacy of methylene blue and menadione and their effect on glutathione metabolism of Plasmodium yoelii-infected albino mice

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Abstract

Plasmodium yoelii infection caused significant decline in the hepatic and splenic glutathione content and the activities of the key enzymes, that is, glutamate cysteine ligase (EC 6.3.2.2) and glutathione reductase (EC 1.8.1.7) of their murine host, that is, Swiss albino mice. Methylene blue as well as menadione were found to restore these constituents when given to P. yoelii-infected mice at the dose levels of 2.5 and 100 mg/kg, respectively, compared to mefloquine which does the same at 5.0 mg/kg dose. Methylene blue, like mefloquine also caused a rapid decline in percent parasitaemia, whereas menadione caused a delay in maturation of the infection, but could not cure the mice.

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Abbreviations

GSH:

Glutathione

GCL:

Glutamate cysteine ligase

GR:

Glutathione reductase

Mf:

Mefloquine

MB:

Methylene blue

Md:

Menadione

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Acknowledgements

Financial assistance in the form of Senior Research Fellowship to one of our authors (KA) from CSIR, New Delhi (India) and Volkswagen Stiftung, Hannover (Germany) in the form of ad hoc research grant to AKS for carrying out this research are gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biochemistry, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 226 001, India

    Kavita Arora & Arvind K. Srivastava

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  1. Kavita Arora
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  2. Arvind K. Srivastava
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Correspondence to Arvind K. Srivastava.

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Arora, K., Srivastava, A.K. Antimalarial efficacy of methylene blue and menadione and their effect on glutathione metabolism of Plasmodium yoelii-infected albino mice. Parasitol Res 97, 521–526 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00436-005-1478-4

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