The effect of amodiaquine on some brain macromolecules of Wistar rats

Abstract

Amodiaquine (AQ) is a 4-aminoquinoline antimalarial with schizonticidal action against different strains of Plasmodia. This study assessed the effect of the drug on some macromolecules of the brain of albino Wistar rats. Twenty-four adult Wistar rats weighing between 150-180 g were divided into four groups of six animals each. Group 1 served as the control and received distilled water, while groups 2, 3 and 4, the experimental groups, were treated with 17.50 mg/kg, 8.75 mg/kg and 8.75 mg/kg of AQ, respectively. The
treatment lasted three days for groups 2 and 3, and six days for group 4. The brains of the animals were removed, weighed and preserved in sucrose tris-KCl-MgCl (STKM) buffer for some macromolecule analysis. The total proteins (TP) and triacylglycerol (TAG) showed no significant (p>0.05) differences between the experimental groups compared to the control, and there was no significant (p>0.05) difference within the experimental groups. In the cholesterol (CH) estimation, the control had significantly (p<0.01, p<0.001) higher
concentration than groups 3 and 4 respectively, but not group 2. CH concentration in group 2 was, however, significantly (p<0.05, p<0.01) higher than that in groups 3 and 4 respectively. These results reveal that AQ caused insignificant change to brain TP and TAG, but significantly altered the CH in the brain of Wistar rats.

Keywords: Amodiaquine, Brain, Total protein, Triacylglycerol, Cholesterol, Wistar rats.

International Journal of Biological and Chemical Sciences Vol. 2 (4) 2008: pp. 434-438