Simvastatin Enhances Clinical Response to Chloroquine in Uncomplicated Falciparum Malaria
N. N. Nwobodo¹* and P. O. Okonkwo²¹Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Enugu Nigeria.
²Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine, University of Nigeria, Enugu Nigeria.
Corresponding Author E-Mail:nnwobodo@yahoo.com
Abstract: In a double blind randomized controlled study, malaria patients (n=60) confirmed by thick blood film and immunological tests, were equally distributed into test and control groups. The test group received chloroquine and simvastatin while the control received chloroquine alone. Patients were followed up on days 0, 3, 7, 14 and 28 post-treatment. Assessment of clinical response carried out in line with WHO criteria. Results revealed statistically significant (P<0.05) decrease in early treatment failure (ETF) and late treatment failure (LTF) in the test group relative to control. Conversely, adequate clinical and parasitological response was elevated in the test group relative to control. Similarly, the parasite clearance time (PCT) and fever clearance time (FCT) were significantly (P<0.05) reduced in the test group relative to the control. Again, the clinical clearance rate (CCR) and cure rate (CR) were significantly (P<0.05) increased in the test group relative to control but varied inversely with the recrudescence rate. It is concluded, that the significant improvement in total clinical response as evidenced in the test group relative to control could be attributed to the modulating effect of 3-HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, simvastatin.
Keywords: Chloroquine; clinical response; simvastatin; uncomplicated malaria Back to TOC