Human
African trypanosomiasis (HAT) is a tropical disease caused by two subspecies of Trypanosoma brucei, the East African variant T. b. rhodesiense and the West African variant T. b. gambiense.
Melarsoprol, an organic arsenical, is the only
drug used to treat late stage T. b. rhodesiense
infection. Unfortunately, this
drug induces an extremely severe post treatment reactive
encephalopathy (PTRE) in up to 10% of treated patients, half of whom die from this complication. A highly reproducible mouse model was adapted to assess the use of Kenyan purple
tea anthocyanins and/or coenzyme-Q10 in blocking the occurrence of PTRE. Female Swiss white mice were inoculated intraperitoneally with approximately 10(4) trypanosome isolate T. b. rhodesiense KETRI 2537 and treated sub-curatively 21days post
infection with 5mg/kg
diminazene aceturate (DA) daily for 3days to induce severe late
CNS infection that closely mirrors PTRE in human subjects. Thereafter mice were monitored for relapse of
parasitemia after which they were treated with
melarsoprol at a dosage of 3.6mg/kg
body weight for 4days and sacrificed 24h post the last dosage to obtain brain samples. Brain sections from mice with PTRE that did not receive any
antioxidant treatment showed a more marked presence of inflammatory cells, microglial activation and disruption of the brain parenchyma when compared to PTRE mice supplemented with either coenzyme-Q10, purple
tea anthocyanins or a combination of the two. The mice group that was treated with coenzyme-Q10 or purple
tea anthocyanins had higher levels of GSH and aconitase-1 in the brain compared to untreated groups, implying a boost in brain
antioxidant capacity. Overall, coenzyme-Q10 treatment produced more beneficial effects compared to
anthocyanin treatment. These findings demonstrate that therapeutic intervention with coenzyme-Q10 and/or purple
tea anthocyanins can be used in an experimental mouse model to ameliorate PTRE associated with cerebral HAT.