STUDIES ON ANTIMALARIAL DRUGS

THE EFFECT OF MALARIA (PLASMODIUM GALLINACEUM) AND OF ANEMIA ON THE DISTRIBUTION OF QUININE IN THE TISSUES OF THE FOWL

¹ From the Departments of Pharmacology, Bacteriology and Parasitology, The University of Chicago

The distribution of quinine after intravenous administration in the tissues of birds infected with Plasmodium gallinaceum and of birds made anemic by bleeding or by injection of phenylhydrazine has been studied.

In infected birds, the quinine concentration in the spleen, plasma, red cells, bone marrow and liver was frequently higher than in uninfected controls. Higher values were also occasionally found in the brain, leg muscle and lung. No significant differences were noted in the spinal cord, pancreas, kidney and heart.

The increased quinine concentration in infected birds is probably not associated with the presence of parasites in red cells or as exo-erythrocytic stages. Relatively high quinine concentrations were found in both plasma and red cells in most of the anemic birds, and in the liver and spleen of birds made anemic with phenylhydrazine. The relationship between the anemia of the malaria infections and the fate of the injected quinine is discussed.