The antisickling effects of dried fish (tilapia) And dried prawn (Astacus red)

The antisickling effect of dried fish (Tilapia) and dried prawn (Astacus red ) were investigated to ascertain the ability of the extracts of these samples to inhibit polymerisation of sickle cell haemoglobin (HbS), improve the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio and lower the activity of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in blood plasma. The samples were first ground into powder and soaked in chloroform/dichloromethane to defat them and in essence produce the fat soluble fraction (filtrate). The defatted residues were soaked in methanol for 24 hours to obtain a methanol soluble fraction. This was finally fractioned in a mixture of BuOH/H2O (1:1) to give the butanol-soluble (BUS) and water-soluble (WAS) fractions respectively. These fractions were subsequently concentrated by rotary evaporation. The fat-soluble (FAS), BUS, and WAS phases were able to inhibit HbS polymerisation to varying degrees from 50% for FAS to 95% for BUS. The water-soluble phases of these samples were also found to increase the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio from 6% to 95%. The phases equally reduced LDII activity in serum of ten sickle cell disease patients to varying degrees from 12% to 40%. Nutritionally, the different fractions or phases were found to be rich in free amino acids which ranged from 951.05mg/100g of sample for tilapia to 1906.05mg/100g of sample for crayfish (Astacus; red). The soluble protein concentration of the samples was equally estimated. Dried tilapia has an aggregate protein content of 28.7.30mg/100g of sample while dried prawn has 1626mg/100g of sample. Dried fish (Tilapia) and dried prawn (Astacus red) could both be nutritionally and therapeutically beneficial in the management of sickle cell disease. @JASE