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Effects and Mechanism of Action of Artemisinin on Mitochondria of Plasmodium berghei

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Abstract

Objective

To study the antimalarial effects and mechanisms of artemisinin (Qinghaosu in Chinese, QHS) on mitochondria in mice infected with Plasmodium berghei.

Methods

A total of 108 C57 mice infected with Plasmodium berghei were randomly divided into 3 groups by weight: the control group, 200 and 400 mg/kg QHS groups. The two QHS treatment groups were further divided into 4 sub-groups with 12 animals each time according to the treatment time, 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h. Normal saline was intragastrically (i.g.) administered to the control group. The other two groups received different doses of QHS by i.g. administration. Animals were treated once with QHS for different detection time as follows: 0.5, 1, 2, and 4 h. The mitochondrial energy metabolism, oxidative damage, membrane potential, and membrane permeability and other indexes were detected.

Results

After administration of 200 and 400 mg/kg QHS, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) levels in Plasmodium and its mitochondria were reduced (P<0.05), the levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde (MDA) were increased (P<0.05), and the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) was also increased (P<0.05). At the same time, the membrane potential of the mitochondria was reduced and the degree to which the membrane permeability transition pore was opened was irreversibly increased (P<0.05).

Conclusions

Mitochondria in Plasmodium were the targets of QHS, which can adversely affect mitochondrial energy metabolism, oxidative damage, membrane potential, and membrane opening, and ultimately exert an antimalarial effect.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China

    Hong-ping Hou, Guang-ping Zhang, Li-na Ma, Ping Su, Zhong-xiu Zhang, Bao-qiang Dai & Zu-guang Ye

Authors
  1. Hong-ping Hou
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  2. Guang-ping Zhang
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  3. Li-na Ma
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  4. Ping Su
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  5. Zhong-xiu Zhang
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  6. Bao-qiang Dai
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  7. Zu-guang Ye
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Contributions

Hou HP performed the entire experiment and wrote the manuscript. Zhang GP corrected the manuscriopt. Ma LN and Su P anlyzed the data. Zhang ZX performed the detections. Dai BQ infected the animals with Plasmodium berghei. Ye ZG designed the experiments.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zu-guang Ye.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Hou, Hp., Zhang, Gp., Ma, Ln. et al. Effects and Mechanism of Action of Artemisinin on Mitochondria of Plasmodium berghei. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 26, 277–282 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-019-3164-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-019-3164-x

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