THE EFFECT OF ARTEMETHER-LUMEFANTRINE ON REPRODUCTIVE HORMONES IN MALE AND FEMALE WISTAR RATS

Abstract

Antimalarial drugs remain the most powerful tools in the treatment of malaria. Artemether lumefantrine (AL) Lonart DS© is a popular antimalarial drug used in Nigeria for the treatment of malaria. This study is designed to evaluate the effects of AL on reproductive hormones in male and female Wistar rats, and determine the possible period of recovery.

Thirty five male and thirty five female Wistar rats, weighing 180-300g, were used for the study. The male rats were divided into 4 groups (Group 1, 2, 3 and 4) of five rats per group. Group 1 is the control group while groups 2, 3.and 4 are the test groups. The female rats were also divided into 4 groups (Group 5, 6, 7, and 8) of five rats per group. Group 5 is the control group while group 6, 7 and 8 are the test groups. The control groups received 0.5 ml of normal saline daily. All test groups received Lonart DS© (a brand of AL) at 1.14mg/ 1kg body weight daily for 3 days via oral garvage. The control groups were sacrificed after one week while groups 2, 3 and 4 were sacrificed at one, two and four weeks respectively after AL administration. Similarly, groups 6, 7 and 8 were also sacrificed one, two and four weeks respectively after AL administration. Follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), Luteinizing hormone (LH), Testosterone, Estradiol and Progesterone, were assayed for all the rats but testosterone and progesterone were assayed in the male and female rats respectively using ELISA.

FSH was significantly reduced after treatment in both male and female rats but there was full recovery in female after two weeks whereas in male, recovery was after four weeks. AL caused a significant reduction in LH in both male and female Wistar rats after treatment but there was recovery in two weeks and four weeks in male and female respectively. There was no significant difference in testosterone, estradiol and progesterone levels across the groups when.