Efficacy of eosin B as a new antimalarial drug in a murine model.

Zahra Zamani (1) , Alireza Sadeghi Tafreshi (2) , Hossein Nahrevanian (3) , Behzad Lame-Rad (2) , Fatemeh Pourfallah (1) , Hossein Eslamifar (4) , Sedigheh Sadeghi (1) , Farideh Vahabi (1) , Ayda Iravani (1) , Mohammad Arjmand (1)

1 Department of Biochemistry
2 Department of Biochemistry
3 Department of Parasitology
4 Department of Clinical Reasearch

The initial success of any adopted anti-infective strategy to malaria is followed by a descent due to the emergence of resistance to it. The search for new drugs and drug targets is a consistent demand in this disease. Eosin B, a common laboratory dye, is reported to have good antiparasitic properties in vitro. It was studied for its antiparasitic effect in vivo on chloroquine-sensitive Plasmodium berghei murine malaria. Eosin B was administered in 2 different doses by either the oral or parenteral route, once or twice daily to mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Both the doses of eosin B 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg gave better results than the controls which were 40 mg/kg chloroquine and 100 mg/kg of arteether with P < 0.005 significance. Percentage suppressive activity by Peter's test of eosin B was better, though at a higher dose than both the controls. Survival rate of mice receiving the higher dose of eosin B was longer than that of the controls. When administered twice daily, the mice were fully cured after 4 days. Eosin B seems to be a promising drug exhibiting good antimalarial effects in the murine model of the disease.

Domains: Microbiology and Parasitology

Zahra Zamani, Alireza Sadeghi Tafreshi, Hossein Nahrevanian, Behzad Lame-Rad, Fatemeh Pourfallah, et al.. Efficacy of eosin B as a new antimalarial drug in a murine model.. Malaria Research and Treatment, 2011, pp.381724. ⟨10.1155/2012/381724⟩. ⟨pasteur-01057594⟩