Debrah, Philip, Akotuah, Prince A., Allotey-Babington, Grace L., Amponsah, Seth K., Fredua-Agyeman, Mansa, Sarkodie, Joseph A., Bekoe, Emelia O., Boateng, Joshua ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6310-729X, Adjei, Samuel, Nyarko, Alexander K., N’Guessan, Benoit B. and Asiedu-Gyekye, Isaac J. (2024) A combination of unsweetened natural cocoa powder and artemether/lumefantrine: a strategy to improve malaria treatment outcomes. Health Sciences Investigations Journal, 5 (1). pp. 635-644. ISSN 2720-7609 (Print), 2704-4890 (Online) (doi:10.46829/hsijournal.2024.6.5.1.635-644)

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Abstract

Background: Reports suggest that unsweetened natural cocoa powder (UNCP) has antiplasmodial activity and contains enough fat content to enhance the absorption of artemether/lumefantrine (A/L).
Objective: This study assessed the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of UNCP co-administered with A/L.
Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats were infected with A/L-sensitive Plasmodium berghei. Rane’s curative model was used to assess the effect of the excipient UNCP (300 - 1500 mg/kg) formulated with A/L on parasite clearance. Additionally, healthy non-malarious male SD rats were co-administered orally with the fixed doses of A/L (recommended therapeutic dose of 2 mg/kg artemether and 12 mg/kg lumefantrine) with varying doses of UNCP (300, 600, 900, 1200 and 1500 mg/kg), to assess the effect of UNCP on the disposition of A/L. The number of mice in each group that were given each dose was five (n = 5). Plasma lumefantrine concentration was assayed using HPLC/UV-Vis.
Results: Co-administration of UNCP (1200 and 1500 mg/kg) with A/L caused a significant difference in parasite clearance compared to conventional A/L (Coartem®-only) or UNCP alone. Pharmacokinetic analysis showed that the peak serum concentration (Cmax) of lumefantrine for the A/L+UNCP (1200 mg/kg and 1500 mg/kg) was higher than the Coartem®-only group. Additionally, the area under the lumefantrine concentration-time curve (AUC0→24) post-drug administration was higher for the A/L+UNCP (1200 mg/kg and 1500 mg/kg) groups compared to the commercially obtained conventional A/L Coartem®-only group.
Conclusion: UNCP, co-administered with A/L, increased the in vivo antiplasmodial activity of A/L enhanced lumefantrine disposition (peak concentration and total drug exposure) in rats. Thus, it can be exploited as an excipient in the formulation of A/L for the management of uncomplicated malaria in humans.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	artemether/lumefantrine; pharmacokinetics; cocoa powder; malaria; plasmodium berghei
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) R Medicine > R Medicine (General) R Medicine > RS Pharmacy and materia medica
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > School of Science (SCI)
Related URLs:	Publisher
Last Modified:	09 Jul 2024 11:11
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/47474

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