Erythrocyte lipid and antioxidant changes in plasmodium falciparum-infected children attending mother and child hospital in Akure, Nigeria

Background and Objective: Understanding the molecular and cellular pathways activated in response to Plasmodium falciparum infection is crucial for the development of pharmacological intervention to malaria. The present study was designed to evaluate the lipid components and the oxidative status of erythrocyte obtained from children under 5 years infected with Plasmodium falciparum. Materials and Methods: Parasitemia was assessed prior and after treatment with antimalarial, erythrocyte lipid profile, levels of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant status (reduced glutathione, GSH; superoxide dismutase, SOD; catalase and glutathione peroxidase, GPx) were measured. Results: Results obtained showed that in Plasmodium infected erythrocyte, the total phospholipids, cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentrations were significantly elevated beyond the normal level. In addition, an upsurge in erythrocyte oxidant (lipid peroxide) status with a concomitant downregulation of the antioxidant status (GSH concentration and SOD, catalase and GPx activities) was observed in P. falciparum-infected children. However, following a three-day treatment with artemisinin combination drugs, there was a significant reduction in erythrocyte phospholipids, total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol concentration as well as lipid peroxide levels. Significant augmentation in erythrocyte antioxidant status (GSH, SOD, catalase and GPx) were also observed after treatment with antimalarials. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that erythrocyte lipids and oxidative status are usually altered in Plasmodium falciparum-infected children. Thus, monitoring erythrocyte lipid profile and oxidative status could offer a viable diagnostic strategy in early detection of malaria in children. Key words: Infected erythrocyte, membrane lipid, oxidative stress, Plasmodium falciparum, malaria Citation: Olarewaju Michael Oluba, 2019. Erythrocyte lipid and antioxidant changes in Plasmodium falciparum-infected children attending mother and child hospital in Akure, Nigeria. Pak. J. Biol. Sci., 22: 257-264. Corresponding Author: Olarewaju Michael Oluba, Department of Biochemistry, Landmark University, Omu-Aran, Kwara State, Nigeria Tel: +2347030496638 Copyright: © 2019 Olarewaju Michael Oluba. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the creative commons attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Competing Interest: The author has declared that no competing interest exists. Data Availability: All relevant data are within the paper and its supporting information files