ABSTRACT

Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by different strains of the protozoan parasites of the genius plasmodium. Malaria still remains one of the most deadly infections in the tropical and subtropical regions of the world despite various control programs (Okafor etal., 2013). Each' year, there are about 216 million episode of acute malaria illness, 655,000 mortality and 91% occurred in the African region (CDC, 2012). Due to the increasing resistance to the available pharmacological agents with antimalarial potentials the World Health Organization (WHO) approved artemisinin-based combination therapy which prevents the development of gametophyte in Plasmodium vivax, .Plasmodium ovale, Plasmodium malarae and the early stage of Plasmodium falciparium. The most widely used artemisinin derivatives are artesunate, artemether and dihydro-artemisinin (DHA). Based on the available safety and efficacy data, different therapeutic options of the artemisinin-based combination treatments (ACTs) are now available which include artemether-lumefantrine, artesünateamodiaquine, artesunate -sulfadoxine/pyrimethamine, artesunatemefloquine, dihydroartemisinin-piperaquine phosphate among others (WHO, 2011). Artemether, and artemeter-lumefantrine were introduced as alternative drugs for the treatment of malaria in Africa due to the emergence of drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum. Artemether (an artemisinin derivative) is effective in the treatment of malaria and, in artemisinin-based combination chemotherapy with other effective blood schinzonticide to prevent recrudescence and delay the selection of resistant strains. Coartem is a fixed dose combination of artemether and lumefantrine (a long active drug also referred to as benflumetol). It is used in the treatment of uncomplicated malaria caused by pure or mixed Plasmodium falciparum infections including strains from multidrug resistant areas and can prevent recrudescence after artemether therapy (Gbadegesin et al., 2008). Despite the effectiveness of artemisinin-based combination, therapy in combating malaria there is growing concern over its rampant misuse in the form of multiple repeated doses in Nigeria. Although toxicity studies on coartem, like other artemisinin combination chemotherapy, are very scanty, several studies have reported neurotoxicity and hepatotoxic side effects such as dizziness and fatIgue, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, palpitations, myalgia, sleep disorders, headache and rash formation (Gbadegesin et al., 2008; Oluwatosin et al., 2008; Akomolafe et al., 2012). Akomolafe et al., 2012). Akomolafe et al., (2012) also reported that that acute administration of the anti-malarials decreased the overall redox status of male Wistar rats.