Some Fruit Juices as Environmental Sickling Agents

Interest in cheap, safe and effective management of sickle cell disease (SCD), an oxidant stress-loaded problem is growing. This in vitro study focuses on the effect of some fruit juices on sickle cell hemoglobin polymerization, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activity and Fe / Fe ratio of sickle cell blood. Ripe fruit juices 2+ 3+ g: 0.290±0.01, 0.110±0.0, 0.250±0.01, 0.130±0.0, 0.094±0.01and 0.087±0.01 with respect to the order above. Except in lemon, phenylalanine (a known antisickling amino acid) was prominent in all water-soluble (WAS) fractions. We demonstrated that vitamin C and phenylalanine can inhibit polymerization of deoxygenated HbSS by about 80.40% and 95.87% respectively in 30 minutes at 100 µM ascorbic equivalence. Two of the citrus samples-Citrus sinesis, Citrus reticulata and Carica papaya (although not a citrus fruit), all inhibited sickle cell hemoglobin polymerization, while Citrus paradisi, Citrus limon and Citrus aurentifolia enhanced polymerization, increased the Fe Fe ratio by about 50% and LDH activity usually raised in SCD was significantly raised by 2+/ 3+ Citrus limon (66.60%), Citrus paradisi (69.20%) and Citrus aurentifolia (79.04 %); while Citrus sinesis, Citrus reticulata and Carica papaya reduced it by 42.90%, 25.79% and 17.80% respectively. These sickling fruit juices and their by-products may pose serious health problems for sickle cell disease patients and may constitute an environmental hazard to patients with similar hematological complications.