Simvastatin Enhances Clinical Response to Quinine against Plasmodium falciparum

3-hydroxy-3-methyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors exhibit both in vivo and in vitro anti-plasmodial effects, independent of their hypolipidemic action. This study sought to evaluate the synergistic effect of quinine and simvastatin combination in enhancing clinical response in the treatment of malaria infection. Subjects with clinically characterized malaria (n=60) confirmed by thick blood film and immunological tests, were categorized into test and control groups after obtaining informed consent. Ethical clearance certification was obtained from UNTH Research Ethics Committee (NHREC/05/01/2008B). The quinine + simvastatin (test) group received oral quinine and simvastatin, while the quinine alone (control) group received only quinine. The subjects were followed up on days D0, D3, D7, D14 and D28 post-treatment. The assessment of clinical response was carried out in line with WHO criteria. GraphPad Prism 4.0 was employed in the analysis of data. Statistical test of significance between test and control groups determined using two-tailed Student t-test, p