Ficus capensis is used locally in the treatment of haemolytic and sickle cell anaemia
in the south eastern Nigeria. This research sought to ascertain the erythropoietic
and anti- sickling effect of the leaf of Ficus capensis. The ethanolic and aqueous
extracts of the air- dried and pulverized leaves were obtained using 95% ethanol and
distilled water respectively. Phytochemical tests and proximate analysis were carried
out on both the dry powdered leaf and the leaf extracts using standard methods and
the result obtained showed that the plant contains significant amount of Lipids, Flavonoids,
Reducing sugar, Saponins, Tannins, Anthraquinone, Starch, Proteins and glycoside.
Antimicrobial screening was done using standard method. Animal study involving 5 groups
of 5 rats each was carried out. The first 3 groups were administered oral doses of
50 mg/kg, 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg of the extracts, while the last two groups served
as negative and standard reference control for 14days, with intermittent withdrawal
of blood in days 0, 3, 7 and 14 from the retro-orbital veins for haematological analysis;
PCV, RBC, WBC, Hb using Neubau counting chamber. The PCV test showed in increase with
50 mg/kg (44%.- 49%) and 100 mg/kg (45% – 58%) against 45% – 49% in standard reference
control and 44% – 45% in Negative control, RBC 6.70 d ± 0.08 to 8.82a ± 0.31, WBC11.6
d ± 0.44 to18.8c ± 0.60 and Hb,14.60a ± 0.49 to19.9 d ± 0.35. Anti-sickling activity
of the plant extract was determined by adopting the Emmel test procedure using blood
samples from sickle cell patients, ages13, 26 and 32years. The Anti-sickling test
shows inhibition of sickling by the extracts at 32.81% and 36.9% respectively on both
SS red blood cell samples from the old patients using concentrations of 50 µg/l and
100 µg/l. The result indicates significantly high erythropoietic action of the plant
leaf and anti-sickling properties. This justifies its ethno-medicinal use in the treatment
of anaemia and anti-sickling crisis.
