African Journal of Malaria and Tropical Diseases

Full Length Research Paper

A study of malaria-infected children in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

Andy Ogochukwu Egwunyenga, Gabriel Isamah and Onyebiguwa Patrick Nmorsi

Department of Zoology, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria.

*Correspondingauthor. E-mail: [email protected].

Accepted 02 April, 2015

Abstract

This study was undertaken to establish data on the roles of lipid peroxidation and ascorbic acid in the pathology of malaria in Nigeria children. We measured the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), a marker of lipid peroxidation and ascorbic acid in the plasma of 406 parasitaemic and 212 non-parasitaemic Nigerian children. Lipid peroxidant levels were significantly higher in children with moderate and high parasitaemia (16.88 and 13.64 MDA µM/ml, respectively), than in non-parasitaemic controls (8.71 MDA µM/ml). Malaria infection resulted in significant reduction in ascorbic acid levels of children with moderate and high parasitaemia. The MDA and ascorbic acid levels of children with low parasitaemia were not significantly higher than the levels in non-parasitaemic controls. High levels of lipid peroxidation corresponded with low levels of ascorbic acid and this may be responsible for tissue damage associated with pathology of malaria in Nigerian children.

Key words: Lipid peroxidation, ascorbic, acid Nigerian children, falciparum malaria.