Effect of artemether on rat hepatocytes during acute damage

The aim of this study was to investigate the hepatocellular regeneration ability of artemether in experimental CCl4-induced acute damage in rat hepatocytes. 20 Wistar rats were equally allocated to 4 groups. The first group was designated as the distilled water control group (group 1); the second group was CCl4 toxic control (group 2) and received oral administration of CCl4 (50 mg/kg body weight diluted 1:1 in Tween 80) for three days. The third group (group 3) was treated with CCl4 followed by a subsequent administration of artemether and the fourth group (group 4) received artemether (50 mg/kg body weight) for 3 days. The body weight was recorded before and after the experiment and the plasma aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkanine phosphatase (ALP) and album (ALB) levels were determined as markers of hepatocellular damage. Plasma AST and ALT levels were significantly higher in group 2, in comparison with group 1 (P < 0.05). Also, increase in ALP was observed in group 2 when compared to group 1. Observed improvement in plasma AST, ALT and ALP was recorded in group 3. In conclusion, artemether may have a possible regenerating effect on hepatocellular damage as it showed inhibitory effect of CCl4 and could thus enhance normal liver functions.Keywords: Uncomplicated malaria, artemether, antimalarial agent, liver enzymes