Selenium and tocopherol effects on parasitaemia, organ weights and histopathology of <i>T. brucei</i> infected and diminazene treated rats

Abstract

The efficiency of diminazene aceturate alone and in separate combinations with selenium and tocopherol in T. brucei infected rats was investigated. Parasitemia, the relative weights and histological changes in the liver, spleen and brain were determined 7 days after T. brucei inoculation (untreated rats) and also 7, 14 and 21 days after 7 mg/kg diminazene aceturate single intramuscular injection alone or separately with daily tocopherol (150, 300 and 450 mg/kg) and selenium (100, 200 and 400 mcg/kg) supplementation in drinking water. The liver and spleen were
significantly (p<0.05) enlarged by T. brucei infection. Histo-pathological lesions were also discernible in the liver, spleen and brain. Diminazene and in separate combinations with tocopherol and selenium did not significantly (p<0.05) reverse the increased liver weight caused by infection. Higher doses of tocopherol resulted in higher liver weights. The increased spleen weight was significantly (p<0.001) and consistently reversed by all treatment protocol. Diminazene alone did not heal the histo-pathological lesions observed in the liver, spleen and brain but the lesions were absent by 21 days post treatment (PT) when diminazene was combined separately with tocopherol and selenium. There was    a parasitaemia in all groups by day 7 PT but parasites re-emerged by day
21 PT only in the diminazene group. These results showed that combination of diminazene with selenium or tocopherol led to better remission of the disease as assessed by the delay in relapse of
infection, repair of histo-pathological lesions and accelerated return of spleen towards normal size.

Keywords: Tocopherol, selenium, trypanosoma brucei , diminazene aceturate, rats