The suggestive potentiating effect of cod liver oil on the efficacy of artesunate in Plasmodium berghei infected mice

The effects of cod liver oil on the potency of artesunate was determined using Plasmodium berghei infected mice. Fifty (50) adult albino mice weighing between 15-25g were used for this experiment. There were five groups of ten animals each per group. Groups I to IV were infected with plasmodium berghei and also received 0.9% normal saline (Group I), Artesunate (Group II), Cod liver oil (Group III) and Cod liver oil plus Artesunate (Group IV). Group V was not infected and was not treated. The parasitaemia level was monitored for eight days post inoculation of the parasites into the animals. The group IV animals that received the combination of both Artestunate and Cod liver oil demonstrated a better clearance of malaria parasite than Artesunate montherapy (Group II) with 48.7%, 90.3%, 98.9% and 99.2% suppression of parasiteamia from days 4 to 5, 5 to 6, 6 to 7 and 7 to 8 respectively. These findings showed that the combination of Artesunate and Cod liver oil is more effective against plasmodium berghei infection than artesunate alone. This combination may thus be considered as a suitable and cost effective Artemisinin Combination Therapy. Keywords: Plasmodium berghei, Parasitaemia, Artesunate, Cod liver oil Nigerian Journal of Health and Biomedical Sciences Vol. 5 (2) 2006: 74-7