Purpose: This study tested whether natural cocoa powder ingestion could mitigate hepatic injury coincident with murine malaria. Plasmodium berghei infection causes liver damage including hepatic sinusoidal distension, and elevated serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) levels. According to literature, these pathologies largely result from activity of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and may be extenuated by antioxidants. Animals and methods: Thirty Balb/c mice were randomly assigned to three equal groups. One of two groups of mice inoculated with 0.2 mL of P. berghei-parasitized red blood cells (RBCs) was given unrestricted 24-hour access to a natural cocoa powder beverage (2% by weight) in place of water. The third group of mice were neither infected nor given cocoa. All mice were fed the same standard chow. After 6 days, mice were sacrificed and their livers processed for histomorphometric assessment of mean hepatic sinusoidal diameter as a quantitative measure of altered morphology. Serum ALT and AST were measured as a gauge of functional impairment. Results: Compared with uninfected mice, hepatic sinusoidal diameter in P. berghei-infected mice not given cocoa increased by 150%, whereas a smaller increase of 83% occurred in infected mice that ingested cocoa. Mean serum ALT increased by 127% in infected mice not given cocoa and 80% in infected mice that consumed cocoa, compared with the value for uninfected mice. Similarly, mean serum AST was raised by 141% in infected mice not given cocoa and 93% in infected mice that drank cocoa. Conclusion: Distension of hepatic sinusoidal diameter in P. berghei-infected mice was reduced by 67%, whereas respective elevations of serum ALT and AST concentrations were reduced by 47% and 48% via ingestion of cocoa. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant components of cocoa probably mediated the demonstrated hepatoprotective benefit by blunting pernicious ROS activity in P. berghei-infected mice.

In sub-Sahara African countries, both malaria and intestinal helminth infections are endemic and co-infection commonly occurs. It is estimated that over a third of the world’s population, mainly in the tropics and sub-tropics are infected with parasitic helminths and Plasmodium species thus often leading to co-infections. This cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of malaria and intestinal parasites in a sample of 760 study participants comprising 380 pregnant women and 380 non-pregnant women attending the University Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Blood and stool samples were analyzed for malaria and intestinal parasites using Giemsa staining technique and direct wet mount method respectively. The overall prevalence of malaria infection, intestinal parasite infection and malaria-intestinal parasite co-infection was 73 (9.6%), 43 (5.6%) and 10 (1.3%) respectively. Malaria infection was higher in pregnant women (12.6%) compared to non-pregnant women (6.6%). Non-pregnant women recorded higher intestinal helminth infection (10%) than pregnant women (1.3%). No case of co-infection was recorded among the pregnant women. The study suggests a higher susceptibility to malaria infection when compared to their non-pregnant counterpart with an association between malaria parasite and intestinal helminths in non-pregnant women.Journal of Medical and Biomedical Sciences (2015) 4(3), 31-35Keywords: Ante-natal, infection, personal hygiene, maternal screening, hospital