Effects of mefloquine on the release of marker enzymes from the rat liver crude lysosomal fraction

The effects of the antimalarial agent mefloquine on the release of marker enzymes, acid phosphatase and beta glucuronidase, from the rat liver lysosomes in a crude lysosomal preparation were investigated and compared with that of chloroquine whose membrane effects have been well-documented in the literature. At 10 microM, mefloquine decreased significantly the release of marker enzymes when compared to the control, but at the higher concentrations of 100 microM and 500 microM, it markedly accelerated the release of enzymes. This suggested that mefloquine exerted a concentration-dependent biphasic effect of membrane stabilization and labilization. In comparison, chloroquine diminished the release of enzymes over the concentration range of 10-500 microM, that is showing a membrane stabilizing effect similar to other reports. Since serum levels of 1.6-3.2 microM are reported after a weekly dose of mefloquine, the present results suggest that a predominant stabilization effect should prevail under these conditions. However, higher drug concentrations may result in labilization with undesirable consequences.