Effects of the Ethanolic Extract of Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (Mill.) I.M. Johnst. on Hbs Red Blood Cells In Vitro

Abstract

Sickle cell disorder (SCD) is the commonest haemoglobinopathy amongst the people living in sub-Saharan Africa and Nigeria has the highest prevalence rate in the world with rates varying between 1.5-3%. Medicinal plants have been used in the treatment of painful crises associated with sickle cell disease (SCD) especially among the lower socio-economic class who cannot afford the high cost of western medicine. Cnidoscolus aconitifolius (Mill.) I.M. Johnst. is one of such plants used traditionally in the management of sickle cell anaemia hence the need to prove this claim scientifically. The leaves of C. aconitifolius (CA) were harvested, dried and extracted with different solvents using soxhlet extraction and maceration methods. The ethanolic extract was used for the antisickling, the membrane stability and the antioxidant assays. CA gave an antisickling activity significantly higher than that of Ciklavit^®, the positive control (p < 0.05) and gave 96.82 ± 0.009% rate of decrease in polymerization (%RDP) at 4mg/ml. The extract caused a concentration dependent membrane stability of HbS red blood cells in vivo and also showed an increase in free radical scavenging activities as concentration increased..

Keywords: Sickle cell Anaemia, Antisickling, Polymerization, Membrane Stability