Effect of Methanolic Extract of Cassia Fistula to Prevent Erythrocyte Sickling

Due to the pathophysiology of Sickle cell disease (SCD), several treatment strategies have been reviewed so far. One of the strategies is anti-sickling factors. This study was performed to determine the effect of methanolic extract of Cassia Fistula fruit on sickle cell sickling in vitro.

In this laboratory study, 25 people with sickle cell trait (SCT) ranging in age from 3 to 27 years, and 5 healthy people (as a control) participated. Cassia Fistula was introduced by Dr. Mohammad Taha Jalali to be used in this project. Methanolic extract of Cassia Fistula fruit was obtained by maceration using vacuum distillation (rotary evaporator). Samples with sickle cell trait were examined for sickle cell before and after extract interference, in hypoxic condition. Data analysis was performed by SPSS software version16.

In this study, 64% of the participants were male and 36% were female.  Sickling rates in 1:50, 1: 100 and 1: 200 dilutions were 24%, 37.8% and 46.1%, respectively. According to Wilcoxon Test, the rate of sickling in 1: 2 to 1: 100 dilutions was significantly reduced, relative to pre-interference conditions (P <0.05).

In the present study, it was shown that the methanolic extract of Cassia Fistula plant can prevent erythrocyte sickling in vitro, even with a dilution of 1: 100. According to previous studies, this plant has various therapeutic uses and is non-toxic. Therefore, this extract can be further studied in clinical and in vivo conditions as a useful and cost-effective therapeutic drug.