Toxicological Evaluation of Some Artemisinin Combination Therapies (ACTs) on the Kidney and Liver of Albino Wistar Rats

World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends the use of artemisinin-based combination therapies (ACTs) as drug of choice for the treatment of malaria in endemic regions of the world. This study was designed to evaluate the effects of therapeutic doses of ACTs: Artesunate (Artesunat®), Artesunate-Mefloquine (Artequin®), Artemether-Lumefantrin (Coartem®) and Dihydroartesiminin-Piperaquine (P-Alaxin®) on the integrity of the liver and kidneys of albino Wistar rats. Thirty (30) albino Wistar rats weighing between 200 g – 280 g were randomly divided into 5 groups with 6 animals per group. Group 1 served as control (CTR) while Group 2 received artesunate (AS) for 5 days. Groups 3, 4 and 5 received therapeutic doses of artequine (AQ), coartem (CT) and p-alaxin (PA) respectively for 3 days. The animals were sacrificed under chloroform anaesthesia and blood samples obtained through cardiac puncture for biochemical investigations. Serum ALT activity of Groups 2 and 3 were significantly elevated (p<0.05) while Groups 4 and 5 experienced marginal increased. Group 4 also showed significant increase in total bilirubin though it was marginally increased in all other groups when compared to the control. Creatinine levels were marginally increased in all groups while the urea levels were relatively stable across all groups except in Group 3 where significant increase was observed. The results therefore indicate possible hepatic injury and renal toxicity in albino Wistar rats hence the need for caution and proper attention while undergoing malaria treatment with ACTs.