New Treatments for Sickle Cell Anemia

Sickle cell anemia is a genetically transmitted blood disorder that results in the production of abnormal red blood cells. The condition is characterized by a set of specific symptoms that can begin to manifest themselves as early as four months into an affected individual's life. While there is no known cure for sickle cell anemia, there are a number of new treatments that seem to affect the severity of the disease and its symptoms.

Aspects

• Sickle cell anemia is a blood disorder caused by a genetic mutation in the DNA coding of the protein hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is an essential component of red blood cells. When the hemoglobin is produced abnormally--in sickle cell anemia, this abnormal hemoglobin is called hemoglobin S--the red blood cells take on a crescent, or sickle, shape and cannot move through blood vessels as easily as the rounder, normal red blood cells. The sickle-shaped cells become trapped in the vessels, causing portions of the body to receive inadequate amounts of oxygen.

Older treatments

• In the past several decades, sickle cell anemia has been treated in a number of ways. Most attempt to bring the symptoms of the condition under control. These include the use of medications, such as hydroxyurea and pain-relief drugs, red blood cell transfusions and the use of an oxygen mask to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood. According to the Mayo Clinic, bone marrow transplantation can, in some cases, cure an individual of the disease, but the procedure is expensive, highly risky and has a high failure rate.

Gene therapy

• The use of gene therapy is one of the newest and most promising avenues of sickle cell anemia treatment. Gene therapy focuses on placing unmutated copies of the hemoglobin gene into a sickle cell anemia patient's bone marrow for the transplanted gene to take the place of the mutant gene. Research is also being conducted on the possibility of using cell signals to turn off the production of the defective hemoglobin gene while simultaneously triggering the production of the correct form of hemoglobin.

Drug treatments

• Three drugs are becoming increasingly used as sickle cell anemia treatments. They are clotrimazole, butyric acid and nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a gas, and its presence is thought to prevent abnormal sickle-shaped red blood cells from sticking together and blocking blood vessels. Clotrimazole is an antifungal drug that seems to prevent red blood cells from becoming as likely to take on the abnormal crescent-shape characteristic of sickle cell anemia. Butyric acid may induce the production of structurally normal hemoglobin.

Nicosan

• Nicosan is a phytochemical--an essential compound found in plants--extracted from portions of various native African plants. According to a 2002 study published in the British Journal of Hemotology, use of Nicosan in a controlled study conducted in Nigeria was reported to significantly decrease the tendency of abnormal red blood cells to become stuck within blood vessels in sickle cell anemia patients.