Abstract & Overview
Drepanocytosis is a genetic and neglected disease, endemic in some populations originated from tropical regions.One of the main characteristics of this pathology is the production of a large amount of free radicals, leading to a severe oxidative stress and the consumption of NO by free oxygen radicals, and/or by cell-free plasma heme.The present study evaluated the antisickling and radical scavenging activities of extracts from Garcinia punctata stem barks using Emmel's test and the DPPH assay.G. punctacta was selected through a combination of ethno-pharmacological and zoo-pharmacognosy approaches.The results showed that methanolic, ethyl acetate and dichloromethane soluble fractions, anthocyanins and organic acids exhibited a significant antisickling and antioxidant activity compared to that of n-hexane soluble fraction, as revealed by both the observed normal biconcave form of sickle erythrocyte (normalization rate > 77%).Ethyl acetate exhibited a drastic decrease of radical DPPH absorbance (ED 50 = 0.603 ± 0.028 µg/mL).The chemical screening performed on the plant revealed the presence of anthocyanins and organic acids which were then extracted.Total anthocyanins and organic acids revealed interesting antisickling and antioxidant properties that could justify the integration of Garcinia punctata in Congolese pharmacopoeia for the management of sickle cell disease.Some extracts from this plant species could increase nitric oxide by scavenging free oxygen radicals.For the best our knowledge, Garcinia punctata has not been yet previously reported as antisickling plant in the traditional medicine database of Democratic Republic of the Congo.