Evaluation of the Effects of Clerodendrum polycephalum Baker Leaf Extracts on Sickle Red Blood Cells

1 Evaluation of the effects of Clerodendrum 2 polycephalum Baker leaf extracts on sickle red 3 blood cells. 4 ABSTRACT 5 Mortality rate for people living with sickle cell disease is high and relatively few patients 6 reach adult life, even with high standard of medical care. Clinical manifestations of sickle cell 7 disease are diverse and vary, and fall into three major categories: anaemia, pain related issues 8 and organ failure. Sickle cell crises or painful episodes may be caused by blood vessel 9 occlusion, damaged organ, triggered by membrane deformation. Patients in West Africa, 10 where sickle cell anaemia (SCA) is prevalent, have for ages been treated with natural 11 products especially herbs, as it is still the case in rural communities. The medicinal plant 12 Clerodendrum polycephalum used for this study is used ethno medically in treating pains 13 associated with sickle cell disease and malaria. The leaves were collected, oven dried and 14 macerated in methanol for 72 hours. The extract was dried and reconstituted in distilled water 15 to give concentrations 0.25 mg/ml, 0.5 mg/ml, 1 mg/ml, 2 mg/ml and 4 mg/ml. The methanol 16 extract was further fractionated into solvents of varying polarity viz: n-hexane, 17 dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and water. All extracts and fractions were tested for their 18 antisickling properties using the inhibitory and reversal models. Vanillic acid and p19 hydroxybenzoic acid were used as the positive controls for the inhibitory and reversal assays 20 respectively. Attempt was made to identify the different classes of compounds present in the 21 extract by using Thin layer chromatography technique. 22