The Effects of Extracts of Christmas Bush (Alchornea cordefolia) on Sickle Cell Hemoglobin

Abstract

The study aims at determining the antisicking effectiveness of the extracts of the leaves of a herbal medicinal plant Alchornea cordefolia. The plant is widely distributed in the Southeastern region of Nigeria. The study is designed to involve phytochemical exploration, the nutrient and mineral compositions, the free amino acid, ascorbic acid and the amino acid constituents. Apart from these, the rates of sickle cell hemoglobin polymerization were assayed with different fractions of extracts and compared with the control to ascertain their antisickling effectiveness. Sickle cell blood samples were donated by a total of forty patients (25 males and 15 females) of ages (17-32 years) whose sickle cell status were confirmed by electrophoresis of sickle cell blood by staff of the hematology unit of the centre. The donors were co-opted into the study by the personnel of the sickle cell unit of the Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Nigeria. The determination of the Fe2+/ Fe3+ ratio was to assess the oxygen affinity of sickle cells or drepanocytes. The antisickling properties of leaf extracts of Christmas bush (Alchornea cordefolia) were investigated. Results from phytochemical analysis of crude aqueous extract (CAE) revealed the presence of flavonoids (4.2 +/- 0.1%), alkaloids (5.7 +/- 0.12%), saponins (4.60 +/- 0.10%), tannins (6.50 +/- 0.1%), phenol (3.0 +/- 0.10%) and oxalate (5.47 +/- 0.1%). Proximate composition showed the following results: moisture (11.05 +/- 0.0%), ash (6.8 +/- 0.1%), crude fat (6.03 +/- 0.0%), protein (6.10 +/- 0.0%), fiber (24.5 +/- 0.2%) and carbohydrates (44.50 +/- 0.2%). Assay of mineral composition, revealed a preponderance of such, which include: Potassium (150.30mg/100g), Sodium (228.20mg/100g), Calcium (1.60mg/100g), Magnesium (2.40mg/100g) and Phosphorus (1.00mg/100g) of dry weight of sample. The determination of the antisickling effects of the extracts of Alchornea cordifolia was assessed based on the inhibition of sickle cell hemoglobin polymerization and the improvement of Fe2+/ Fe3+ ratio. Fifty grams (50 g) of the powdered sample was used for the batch extraction procedures with chloroform, methanol, butanol and distilled water to obtain the fat soluble fraction (FAS), the butanol soluble(BUS) and water soluble fractions (WAS) respectively. The FAS, BUS and WAS fractions exhibited profound antisickling effectiveness by inhibiting the HbSS polymerization to varying degrees from (47.50% for the BUS to 98.12% for the WAS fractions respectively in 20 min. The WAS and FAS fractions improved the Fe2+/ Fe3+ ratio remarkably, except the BUS fraction. Thin layer chromatographic (TLC) analysis revealed the following amino acids - Phenylalanine, Alanine, Glutamate, Histidine, etc. The total free amino acid concentration of the fractions were as follows: the FAS (526.8mg/100g); the WAS (79.33mg/100g and the BUS (15.65mg/100g). The total vitamin C concentration was found to be 1929.18 mg/100 g of sample. Alchornea cordefolia leaf extracts, with the preponderance of micro and macro-nutrients, vitamins, amino acids and others, may be very beneficial for the management of sickle cell disease.