Histological Studies of the Effects of Oral Administration of Artesunate on the Medial Geniculate Body of Adult Wistar

The histological effect of oral administration of artesunate, commonly used for the treatment of Malaria on the medial geniculate body (MGB) of adult wistar rat was carefully studied. The rats of both sexes (n=24), average weight of 210g were randomly assigned into three treatment (n=18) and control (n6) groups. The rats in the treatment group 'A' received 4mg/kg body weight of artesunate base dissolved in distilled water for 3 days. The animals in groups 'B' and 'C' received 4mg/kg body weight of artesunate dissolved in distilled water for the first day and thereafter received 2mg/kg body weight daily for six and thirteen day respectively. The control group D, received equal volume of distilled water daily using the Orogastric tube. The rats were fed with grower's mash obtained from Edo Feeds and Flour Mill Ltd, Ewu, Edo State, Nigeria and were given water liberally. The rats were sacrificed on day fourth, eight and fifteenth of the experiment. The medial geniculate body was carefully dissected out and quickly fixed in 10% formal saline for histological studies. The histological findings after H&E method indicated that the treated section of the medial geniculate body showed some decreased cellular population, degenerative changes, cellular hypertrophy, with some vacuolations appearing in the stroma. Varying dosage and long administration of artesunate may have some deleterious effects on the neurons of the Medial geniculate body and this may probably have some adverse effects on auditory sensibilities by its deleterious effects on the cells of the medial geniculate body of adult wistar rats. It is therefore recommended that further studies aimed at corroborating these observations be carried out.