Artesunate Exerts a Direct Effect on Endothelial Cell Activation and NF-B Translocation in a Mechanism Independent of Plasmodium Killing
Figure 1
(a) Parasitemia was analyzed in a blood smear from each mouse. (b) Artesunate (200 mg/Kg; open bars) and mefloquine (200 mg/Kg; gray bars) antimalarial activity after administration on the fifth day of infection. (c) The survival of mice-treated artesunate (- - -, 200 mg/Kg), mefloquine (…, 200 mg/Kg), or vehicle (—) was administered on the fifth day of infection. (d) Body/lung weight ratio, (e) body/spleen weight ratio, and (f) BBB disruption of uninfected (open bars), infected (closed bars), or infected mice that received a single dose of artesunate (200 mg/Kg) on the fifth day of infection. BBB disruption was assessed using Evans blue. The dye quantification is shown as the mean mg of Evans blue per g of brain tissue. (g) Microvascular congestion was assessed by H&E staining of brain sections on the fifth day of infection. (h) Evaluation of infection rate of erythrocytes transferred from nontreated P. berghei-infected mice (open bars) or from artesunate-treated P. berghei-infected mice (closed bars). The results are expressed as the mean ± SEM from six animals/per group of three experiments. Statistically significant differences () between the control and P. berghei-infected groups are indicated by +, and significant differences () between the untreated and artesunate-treated infected mouse groups are indicated by *.
