Quinghaosu, dietary vitamin E, selenium, and cod-liver oil: effect on the susceptibility of mice to the malarial parasite Plasmodium yoelii
1989
Levander, O.A. | Ager, A.L. Jr | Morris, V.C. | May, R.G.
Young female mice were fed torula-yeast-based diets deficient in vitamin E or supplemented with cod-liver oil to determine the effect of host antioxidant status on the therapeutic efficacy of the Chinese traditional antimalarial drug quinghaosu (QHS), a sesquiterpene endoperoxide. Vitamin E deficiency enhanced the antimalarial action of QHS against Plasmodium yoelii, both in terms of decreased parasitemia and improved survival but Se deficiency did not. A vitamin E-deficient diet containing 5% cod-liver oil had such strong antimalarial activity in itself that no additional therapeutic benefit of QHS could be demonstated. Hematocrit values in parasitized mice treated with QHS or fed the cod-liver-oil-supplemented, vitamin E-deficient diet were normal. Nutritional manipulation of host antioxidant status may provide a promising prophylactic and/or therapeutic tool for the control of malaria.
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