The Anti-Sickling Properties of Medicinal Plants, Insights in Botanical Medicine*

Abstract

SCD is one of the most prevailing homogeneous inherited haemoglobinopathies causing a plethora of various clinical complications to the patients. The high mortality and morbidity severely concern the Western community, where numerous clinical trials and research for a cure are in process. In order to al-leviate patients from the severe symptoms of the disease, avoiding the side effects, Botanical Medicine exhibits concrete evidence, as a gold candidate, to be the salvation to the problem. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review (PRISMA) protocol has been used to achieve extensive research on the topic, focusing on the identification and evaluation of the phytochemical properties of common medicinal plants. Meta-analysis has also been imple-mented on the results of published literature. Forest plots have been plotted, comparing and evaluating the results’ validity and significance. The meta-analysis results have undoubtedly demonstrated the importance and significance of the medicinal plants and their properties against various clinical complications, focusing on the pathogenicity of SCD. Surprisingly, their effectiveness to suppress haemoglobin polymerisation and increase the Fe 2+ /Fe 3+ ratio in patients, en-hanced the normal morphological erythrocytes’ appearance by suppressing the sickle shape of drepanocytes. Research made on the epidemiology of SCD asso-ciates the disease with the geographical frequency of malaria infection. Based on the natural selection theory of Charles Darwin, nature aids in the popula-tion’s survival by the endemicity of various medicinal plants in areas with increased SCD patients. Limitations to the medicinal plants’ consumptions and further therapeutic options have been discussed.