The effect of fixed oil extracts of Nigella sativa on sickle cells: An in-vitro study in Khartoum state -Sudan

In Sudan, sickle cell anemia (SCA) is one of the most common inherited disorders of hemoglobin that has complications and becomes world problem. Nigella sativa NS (black seed) has been reported to have calcium antagonist and antioxidant activities, both of which play a role in the management of sickle cell anemia. The aim of the current study was to evaluate of the anti-sickling activity of the NS extracts, forty patients with sickle cell anemia were recruited for the study. A total of 3ml of venous blood was collected from each patient after obtaining the consent and the ethical approval, the blood was treated with Nigella sativa (NS) extract, and sickling test was performed. Descriptive study and p-values were used, and the correlation was evaluated, data was analyzed by SPSS. Recent study found that the sickling test after treating blood with Nigella sativa extract showed a negative result in 75% of patients and a 25% of patients showed persistently positive sickling test result. The anti-sickling effect in relation to various hemoglobin concentration, gender and age group showed p values of 0.007, 0.672 and 0.853 respectively indicating significant relationship with Hb concentration. Our study concluded that the fixed oil extract from Nigella sativa has an in-vitro anti-sickling activity on patients with SCA and this finding could indicate the use of this extract in treatment