In vivo and in vitro Models for Scanning Drug Substances in Malaria: Prestudy

The Wolrd Health Organization (WHO) encourages all countries to investigate antimalarial drug substances derived from herbal sources with the slogan "Hunt of the Next Artemisinin" due to the emergence of resistant strains of Plasmodium species to artemisinin. In the broad and simple sense, it was planned to help guide the young researchers set in-vitro and in-vivo models of malaria in order to be used in drug research and active ingredient studies.

In-vitro study, young Plasmodium berghei trophozoites were removed from the liquid nitrogen tank and resuspended in appropriate conditions, followed by incubation with chloroquine and tetracycline at concentrations of 0.1, 0.4, 0.8, 1.6, 6.4, 12.8 μg/mL for 24 hours at +37°C in a shaking incubator. In-vivo studies, Tetracycline group (TG) and Chloroquine group (KG) were administered 50 mg/kg of tetracycline and chloroquine by intragastric lavage and untreated control group (TACG) were administered the same amount of saline via the same route. The suppression of parasitemia in mice was followed for 24 days.

In our in-vitro study it was observed that 0.8 μg/mL of chloroquine and 1.6 μg/mL of tetracycline was enough to suppress parasitemia. In our in-vivo drug study, all of the mice in the TG group died at day 24, and all of the mice in the TAKG group died at day 12, with no parasitemia observed in the mice in the KG group.

Our study suggests that if tetracycline therapy is administered when the induction of chloroquine therapy is delayed, the exacerbation of the parasitemia may be prevented and when chloroquine is obtained chloroquine therapy can be commenced thus preventing the loss of the patient.