Effect of rutin and chloroquine on White Leghorn chickens infected with Plasmodium (Bennettinia) juxtanucleare

Plasmodium juxtanucleare is one of the agents that cause avian malaria in chickens and little is known about the treatment of the infection. The aim of this study was to compare the antimalarial activities of rutin and chloroquine in chickens infected with P. juxtanucleare after immunossuppression with corticosteroid. Antimalarial activity was verified in 33 fowls by evaluation of parasitemia levels in Giemsa-stained blood smears taken to 30 days. Rutin did not exert a reduction in parasitemia from P. juxtanucleare when compared to chloroquine treatment that kept the parasites at a low level, demonstrating its antimalarial effect. During the course of the infection, the trophozoite stage predominated (80%), followed by schizont (17%) and gametocyte (3%). Maximum parasitemia levels were recorded on day 12 in control and rutin groups. There were no significant differences in the hematocrit values, weight body or the temperature of the fowls among the groups evaluated (p > 0.05).