Assessment of interactions of the antimalarial drugs chloroquine and mefloquine with NaNO 2 and HgCl 2 in rodents

Abstract

Chloroquine and mefloquine are antimalarial drugs widely used in Brazil, especially in prospecting areas in the Amazonian region, where they may be associated with other compounds suspected to be genotoxic. Mefloquine was tested at doses of 150, 300, 600 and 1200 mg/kg body weight on Wistar rats and the animals were killed 6, 12 and 24 h later. No significant increase in chromatid gaps or breaks was induced by any of the treatments. The drugs were associated with NaNO 2 and HgCl 2, and a slight induction of chromatid aberration frequencies occurred with NaNO 2, particularly when associated with chloroquine. The HgCl 2 did not show clastogenic activity in bone marrow cells of Wistar rats or induce micronuclei in B ALB/c mice. The association of chloroquine and mefloquine did not induce any clastogenic effect.