Suppression of the chloroquine resistance of Plasmodium berghei by treatment of infected mice with a microsomal monooxygenase inhibitor.

Administration of a combination of chloroquine and the copper-lysine complex, copper(lysine)(2), an inhibitor of microsomal monooxygenases, considerably decreased the parasitaemia level of mice infected with a chloroquine-resistant strain of Plasmodium berghei. When given separately, chloroquine and the complex had no antimalarial effect. Use of a combination of monooxygenase inhibitors and chloroquine therefore appears to be a promising addendum to the chemotherapy of malaria caused by chloroquine-resistant parasites.