ABSTRACT
Malaria has remained a major killer disease in the tropics and its treatment has been
greatly hindered by increased drug resistance. This study evaluated hematological and
biochemical effect of doses of Halofantrine hydrochloride (HALFAN) a phenanthrene
methanol drug used for the therapeutic treatment of malaria on female albino rats.
Twenty (20) female albino rats divided into four (4) groups (A-D) of five (5) rats each
were used. Group A (control) received 0.1 mg/kg body weight of normal saline, while
groups B, C and D received 0.1mg/kg body weight of Halofantrine hydrochloride
administered orally three times at six hourly interval for two, four and six weeks duration
respectively. The activities of aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine
aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total cholesterol (TC),
triacylglycerol (TG), high density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL)
increased significantly (P < 0.05). The full blood count increased in a dose dependent
manner. There was significant increase (P < 0.05) in the body weight of the rats. The
results have shown that the drug could induce toxicological effect as the activities of ALT,
AST and ALP increased significantly (p<0.05). The white blood cell count also increased
in a dose dependent manner. These findings suggest that the drug might have some
hepatotoxic effects.
KEYWORDS:Biochemical parameters, albino rats, Halofantrine Hydrochloride, Malaria, Toxicology
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