Effect of ketotifen on the ultrastructure of the Erythrocytic stage of Plasmodium Yoelii in mice
Since plasmodia have developed resistance to many of the drugs widely used as anti-malarials throughout the world, there is thus an urgency in the search for new types of anti-malarials (WHO technical report series 711; Liu et al. 1984). The search is going on worldwide. Several reports of the efficiency of ketotifen have been published in China. Base on biochemical analysis, Pan et al. reported that ketotifen showed strong anti-malarial effects on both a chloroquine sensitive strain of P. yoelii and a chloroquine resistant strain of P. berghei. In this paper we study the ultrastructural changes in plasmodia exposed to ketotifen.Experimental mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with 1 × 10 P.yoelii infected red blood cells. After four days, the parasitemia reach approximately 20-30%. 20mg ketotifen base per kg body weight was given to the mice orally. Blood samples were collected at 1,2,3,6,12,24,36,and 48 hours after drug administration.