Sickle cell anemia: a potential nutritional approach for a molecular disease.
A certain population of red blood cells in patients with sickle cell anemia has an elevated density and possesses an abnormal membrane. These "dense cells" have a tendency to adhere to neutrophils, platelets, and vascular endothelial cells, and, thus, they could trigger vasoocclusion and the subsequent painful crisis from which these patients suffer. We developed a laboratory method of preparing such dense cells and found that nutritional antioxidant supplements, hydroxyl radical scavengers, and iron-binding agents could inhibit the formation of dense cells in vitro. The concentrations at which effective nutritional supplements could inhibit dense cell formation by 50% were 4.0 mg/mL for aged garlic extract, 0.38 mg/mL for black tea extract, 0.13 mg/mL for green tea extract, 0.07 mg/mL for Pycnogenol, 930 microM for alpha-lipoic acid, 270 microM for vitamin E, 45 microM for coenzyme Q(10), and 32 microM for beta-carotene. Both an ex vivo study and a pilot clinical trial demonstrated that a cocktail consisting of daily doses of 6 g of aged garlic extract, 4-6 g of vitamin C, and 800 to 1200 IU of vitamin E may indeed be beneficial to the patients.
Ohnishi
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Philadelphia Biomedical Research Institute, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 19406, USA. stohnishi@aol.com
Ohnishi
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Ogunmola
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D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000178:diet therapy*; D000975:Antioxidants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002499:Centrifugation, Density Gradient; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D006400:Hematocrit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010865:Pilot Projects
D000975:Antioxidants