Nano-phytosome of Quercetin Could Protect Liver from Plasmodium Berghei in Mouse Model

Background: Malaria is one of most important diseases especially in tropical regions. Flavonoids are known to have beneficial properties that could be profitable. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of nano-phytosomes of Quercetin (NQ) on liver damages of mice infected with Plasmodium berghei. Methods: A total of sixty male BALB/c mice were intra-peritoneally infected by administration of 106 P.berghei-infected RBCs. Animals were acclimatized for 7 days and divided into 5 groups including 1) Mice received 0.9% isotonic saline and considered as negative control (NC) and infected mice treated with saline or positive control (PC), 3) treated with 2 mg/kg body weight of Hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HF) for 4 days (HF), 4) treated with 10 mg/kg body weight of NQ for 4 days (NQ) and 5) treated with 10 mg/kg body weight of NQ and 2 mg/kg body weight of HF for 4 days (NQ+HF). Histo-pathological parameters and pro-inflammatory cytokines were also evaluated. Results: Administration of P. berghei could increase scores for histo-pathological parameters and levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines (P<0.0001). Administration of HF and NQ could alleviate adverse effects of P. berghei on histo-pathological parameters (P<0.05). Conclusion: A combination of NQ and HF could show the best response. It means that NQ can be used as adjuvant therapy for treatment of infection induced by Plasmodium berghei.