Effect of Plasmodium berghei infection and antimalarial treatment on heme synthesis in mice.
Plasmodium berghei infection impaired the hepatic heme synthesizing machinery of mice. Key enzymes, viz. S-aminolevulinic acid synthase, S-aminolevulinic acid dehydrase and ferrochelatase were found to be decreased. In contrast, tryptophane pyrrolase noticeably increased during parasitic infection. Oral feeding of chloroquine [16 mg (kg body weight)-1 x 4 days] cleared the parasitaemia from infected mice within 72 h and returned the altered levels of enzymes almost to normal a week after cessation of treatment, the exception being tryptophane pyrrolase, which remained unaffected. Chloroquine treatment did not cause any significant alteration in the above-mentioned enzymes of normal mice.
Srivastava
P
P
Biochemistry Division, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India.
Puri
S K
SK
Pandey
V C
VC
D000624:5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002738:Chloroquine / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005294:Ferrochelatase / Q000378:metabolism; D006418:Heme / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008099:Liver / Q000187:drug effects / Q000201:enzymology*; D008288:Malaria / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D010962:Plasmodium berghei; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase / Q000378:metabolism; D014366:Tryptophan Oxygenase / Q000378:metabolism
D006418:Heme; D002738:Chloroquine; D014366:Tryptophan Oxygenase; D000624:5-Aminolevulinate Synthetase; D000623:Porphobilinogen Synthase; D005294:Ferrochelatase