Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medical Research

Aims: Moringa oleifera Lam (Moringaceae) is commonly used as food plant, food supplement and as medicine in most African countries. With increasing acceptance and use of M. oleifera as food and medicine, the possibility of co-administration of MO with conventional drugs, especially antimalarials, also increases. Hence, this study investigated the effects of M. oleifera leaves (MO) on the pharmacokinetics of amodiaquine (AQ) in male albino Wistar rats. 

Methods: 180 male Wistar Albino rats, weighing 180-220 g, randomly divided into 3 groups of 60 rats each (6 rats per each time point) were used for this study.  In the control group (CT), a single dose of amodiaquine (10 mg/kg) was administered orally to rats while in the co-administration group (CA), the same dose of AQ was given concurrently with MO.  In the third group, the pre-treatment group (PT), each rat received MO for one week and on the 8^th day received the MO dose along with AQ (10 mg/kg).  Blood samples were collected and the plasma concentrations of AQ and its metabolite, desethylamodiaquine (DEAQ), were determined using a validated HPLC method.

Results: Compared to the CT group, the maximum plasma concentration (C_max) of AQ in the CA and PT groups decreased by 28% and 53.42% respectively while for DEAQ, a 59.2% reduction in C_max was observed in CA but there was a 36.0% increase in the PT group.  The plasma exposure (AUC_total) of AQ significantly increased (P <0.001) by about 318.2% and 144.6% in CT and PT respectively, while for DEAQ there was a 28.8% reduction in AUC_total in co-administration, but a significant increase (P<0.001) of 242.4% was observed after pre-treatment.

Conclusion: The study established pharmacokinetic interaction between AQ and MO in rats with the effects being more on the absorption of AQ during co-administration buton both absorption and elimination of AQ after pre-treatment.