title: Assessment of interactions of the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and mefloquine with NaNO2 and HgCl2 in rodents.
abstract: Chloroquine and mefloquine are antimalarial drugs widely used in Brazil, especially in prospecting areas in the Amazonian region, where they may be associated with other compounds suspected to be genotoxic. Mefloquine was tested at doses of 150, 300, 600 and 1200 mg/kg body weight on Wistar rats and the animals were killed 6, 12 and 24 h later. No significant increase in chromatid gaps or breaks was induced by any of the treatments. The drugs were associated with NaNO2 and HgCl2, and a slight induction of chromatid aberration frequencies occurred with NaNO2, particularly when associated with chloroquine. The HgCl2 did not show clastogenic activity in bone marrow cells of Wistar rats or induce micronuclei in BALB/c mice. The association of chloroquine and mefloquine did not induce any clastogenic effect.
authors.affiliation: Departmento de Genética e Morfologia, Universidade de Brasilia, D.F., Brazil.
authors.forename: C K
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Grisolia
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Takahashi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000473:pathology; D001854:Bone Marrow Cells; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000633:toxicity*; D002869:Chromosome Aberrations; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004347:Drug Interactions; D015767:Mefloquine / Q000633:toxicity*; D008627:Mercuric Chloride / Q000633:toxicity*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D015162:Micronucleus Tests; D008940:Mitotic Index / Q000187:drug effects*; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012977:Sodium Nitrite / Q000633:toxicity*
chemical_list: D009153:Mutagens; D008627:Mercuric Chloride; D002738:Chloroquine; D012977:Sodium Nitrite; D015767:Mefloquine