Abstract
This experiment was designed to study the effects of oral administration of artemether which is the most rapid-acting class of antimalarial drugs and the possible protective effect of vitamin E taken with it on the liver of albino rats. A total of twenty-four adult male albino rats were used in this study and were divided into four groups. Group one served as a control and rats in group two exposed to oral intake of artemether daily for fifteen days. The third and fourth groups treated with artemether plus low and high doses of vitamin E respectively. At the end of the experiment, the rats were sacrificed, and the livers were obtained and processed for histological, biochemical and statistical studies. Histological study of the hepatocytes of rats exposed to artemether showed nearly complete disintegration of most cellular contents except few numbers of mitochondria and rough endoplasmic reticulum. Also, the cytoplasm of these cells had few lysosomes, many vacuoles and irregular nuclei with abnormal distribution of chromatin and were shown. The hepatic sinusoids were dilated and filled with blood and vacuoles and bile ductules were abnormal in its structure. Treatment with low and high doses of vitamin E in concomitant with artemether ameliorated the hepatic histopathological lesions and its parenchyma attained nearly normal structure. As far as biochemical changes, alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in rats treated with artemether were significantly elevated as compared to the control. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were significantly increased in the liver in rats treated with artemether. However, vitamin E ameliorated the rise in ALT and AST with decreased MDA concentration and levels of SOD as compared to the corresponding artemether group values. Results of the present suggest that artemether has a harmful and stressful effect on hepatic tissue and the treatment with vitamin E may alleviate this toxicity.