Total Antioxidant Status, Vitamins A, C and β-carotene Levels of Children with P. falciparum Infection in University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Calabar

By using standard procedures, total antioxidant level, vitamins A, C, and β-carotene were assessed in 122 malaria infected children. The haemoglobin and parasite density status of the children were also measured. Sixty healthy children were used as controls. It was observed that all parameters measured were significantly lower in malaria infected children when compared with the respective control values. Malaria parasitemia correlated strongly and negatively with total antioxidant and haemoglobin levels (r=0.-432 and 0.-503, P<0.01) respectively but weakly with vitamin A level (r=0.-196, P<0.05). Reductions in the levels of total antioxidant and vitamin A were dependent on the severity of malaria. The more severe the malaria the lower the levels of total antioxidant and vitamin A. Ratios of vitamin A to vitamin C and beta-carotene to vitamin C were similar in both malaria-infected children and controls indicating a constant proportional relationship between vitamin A and beta-carotene to vitamin C. From this study it is observed that there is a general depression in antioxidant levels suggesting that antioxidant intervention may be crucial in the treatment of malaria infection. Furthermore lowered levels of antioxidants especially of vitamin C in malaria infection also suggest lowered immunity of host, which may be responsible for some of the complications of malaria infection.