ABSTRACT
Cerebral malaria (CM) is the leading cause of death in children under 5 years in Africa, severe neurological sequelae may occur in surviving children. Although artesunate has made breakthrough progress in the clinical treatment of CM, the clinical problems of high mortality and high morbidity have not yet been completely resolved. In this study, an experimental cerebral malaria (ECM) model was established by infecting C57BL/6 mice with Pb ANKA (Plasmodium berghei ANKA) to compare parasitemia level, survival rates, and rapid murine coma behavior scale scores, cerebral microvascular obstruction, haemozoin deposition in the liver, body temperature and weight to investigate the anti-cerebral malaria effect of the artesunate compound combination. The results showed that the artesunate compound combination could improve the survival rate of Pb ANKA-infected mice, reduce the level of parasitemia, effectively improve the symptoms of ECM neurological injury, reduce cerebrovascular obstruction and haemozoin deposition in the liver, and also significantly improve body temperature, weight and other basic indicators. The results showed that the artesunate compound combination improved the pathological changes and neurological damage caused by CM. It is expected to provide a theoretical basis for human cerebral malaria patients in clinical adjuvant therapy.
ABSTRACT
Objective: To understand the morphologic foundation for differences in drug-resistance, virulence and immunity between chloroquine-sensitive (N) and chloroquine-resistant (RC) strains of Plasmodium berghei. Methods: The RC strain and the N strain were compared concerning the formation and morphologic features of digestive vacuoles and haemozoin with transmission electron microscope. Results: There was a single large digestive vacuole and multiple micro-single-mem-braned vacuole-like structures in the trophozoites of the N strain, and haemozoins centralized and fused during their schizo-gony were situated under the plasma membrane. Whereas there were few digestive vacuoles in the trophozoites of the RC strain, but with multiple micro-single-membraned vacuole-like structures instead. The RC strain formed obviously less hemo-zoins than that of the N strain and the hemozoins were not centralized and fused during the schizogony. Conclusion: The RC strain forms multiple single-membraned food vacuole-like structures in the trophozoites, and has different mechanism for detoxifying free heme with N strain and the features may be the foundation for the difference in drug-resistance, virulence, immunity between RC strain and N strain of Plasmodium berghei.