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. 2023 Oct 10;12(20):3522.
doi: 10.3390/plants12203522.

Phytochemical Characterization and In Vitro Evaluation of the Anti-Sickle Cell Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts of Two Medicinal Plants from Niger: Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle and Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth

Harouna Dieté Souleymane  1 , Alfa Keita Djibo  1 , Sabo Haoua Seyni  2 , Ousseini Zakaria  2 , Andreea Veronica Botezatu  3 , Rodica Mihaela Dinica  3 , Adamou Ibrahim Maman Laouali  4 , N'goran David Vincent Kouakou  5
Affiliations

Phytochemical Characterization and In Vitro Evaluation of the Anti-Sickle Cell Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts of Two Medicinal Plants from Niger: Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle and Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth

Harouna Dieté Souleymane et al. Plants (Basel). .

Abstract

Sickle cell anaemia is a hereditary blood disorder that attacks the red blood cells and deforms them, giving them a sickle shape. Sickle cell anaemia is a serious health problem in the West African country of Niger. Moreover, the cost associated with medical care is very high. The main objective of this study is to contribute to the valorisation of Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle (aerial part), Kigelia africana (lam), and Benth (leaves) from Niger were used to treat sickle cell disease using aqueous and ethanolic extracts of phytochemical compounds. To achieve this objective, the evaluation of anti-sickle cell activity was carried out in vitro using the Emmel technique through the normalisation rate. The analyses showed that the aqueous and ethanolic extracts contained various classes of bioactive substances known for their valuable biological activities. The chemical composition rich in bioactive compounds led to very good results in biological assays. Thus, from a dose of 0.05 mg/mL, the ethanolic extracts of the two plants normalised up to 75% of the sickle cells. As the rate of normalisation was shown to be dose-dependent, at a dose of 10 mg/mL, the ethanolic extracts showed the best rates of sickle cell normalisation, with 95% for F. virosa and 93% for K. africana. Phytochemical screening was used to correlate the secondary metabolite and anti-sickle cell activities of the extracts from the two plants. These results may justify the use of these two species in traditional medicine for the treatment of sickle cell disease in Niger. The inclusion of these plants in phytomedicines could provide significant relief to people suffering from sickle cell disease.

Keywords: Flueggea virosa (Roxb. ex Willd.) Royle; Kigelia africana (Lam.) Benth.; Niger; antisickling activity; phytochemical screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Morphology of sickle cells in untreated SS blood (400× magnification).
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Micrograph of SS blood sickle cells treated with ethanolic extract of F. virosa at a concentration of 2.5 mg/mL (400×), (b) Micrograph of SS blood sickle cells treated with ethanolic extract of F. virosa at a concentration of 2.5 mg/mL.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(a) Micrograph of sickle cells from SS blood treated with aqueous extract of K. africana at a concentration of 2.5 mg/mL (400×), (b) Micrograph of sickle cells from SS blood treated with ethanolic extract of K. africana at a concentration of 2.5 mg/mL (400×).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Normalisation rate of sickle cells in the presence of the extracts according to the concentrations of the crude extracts of F. virosa and K. africana. Legend: Et-F.V. ethanolic extract of F. virosa; ET-K.A. ethanolic extract of K. Africana; Aq-F.V. aqueous extract of F. virosa; Aq-K.A. aqueous extract of K. africana.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Proposed anti-sickle cell mechanisms of F. virosa and K. africana extracts.
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