Repeated Treatment with Antimalarial Agents Causes In Vitro Liver Toxicity.
In Africa’s malaria-endemic regions, artesunate/amodiaquine
and artemether/lumefantrine are the antimalarial medications
that are most frequently prescribed. Antimalarial medications
could be overused if they are self-prescribed based on symptoms
rather than a parasitological diagnosis.
This investigation looked at potential cytotoxic and oxidative
stress effects following three dosage treatments spaced 24 h apart.
Articulate, Amodiaquine (1 μM and 10 μM), Artemether,
and Lumefantrine were administered to HepG2-derived VL-17A for up to 72 h.
With a downward trend from 24 h to 48 h to 72 h,
the study findings showed that repeated administration of these
medications greatly reduced cell viability. Additionally, for artemether 200 μM
treatment, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels increased
after 24 h and 48 h but considerably decreased after 72 h.
The ROS levels in articulate, amodiaquine, artemether 400 μM,
and lumefantrine were also noticeably lower after 72 h.
The results of this experiment show that repeated applications
of anti-malaria drugs, A/L and A/A to HepG2 liver cells
reduced their viability in a manner that was consistent.
These findings have significant implications for those
who use antimalarial medications as a preventative measure without
a diagnosis of parasite infection.
Antimalarial medications are the only effective treatment
recommended by the World Health Organization following a malaria infection.
Liver Res Open J. 2023; 4(1): 1-6.doi: 10.17140/LROJ-4-113
