Written by Jessica Patella, ND. Participating women, who supplemented with Sorghum bicolor for three weeks, significantly decreased their preoperative anemia compared to the women who supplemented with folic acid and iron.
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 30.2% of non-pregnant women are anemic 1. This becomes a serious concern in regards to surgery, because anemia increases the risk for death during and immediately after surgery 2,3. Recent research has found that supplementing with sorghum bicolor extract along with iron and folic acid before surgery can decrease anemia 2.
Anemia is the reduction in red blood cells, which results in the body’s decreased ability to carry oxygen via hemoglobin. An estimated 39.5% of surgical patients have anemia, which is associated with an increased risk for blood transfusion, illness and death 2,4. About 30% of those have anemia due to iron, folate or B12 deficiency 3.
Sorghum bicolor extract is from the leaf of the sorghum bicolor strain grown in South West Nigeria 2. The extract has been shown to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and erythropoeitic (increasing red blood cells) effects 5. The formulation used in the study is a commercially available product that contains anthocyanins and anthrocyanidins.
The participants in the study were all women (19-55 years of age) needing to undergo surgery for fibroids (benign uterine tumors that cause increased blood loss during menses). The women were all anemic and randomly divided into either a control group taking iron (200 mg/day) and folic acid (5 mg/day; n=32) or the test group taking iron (200 mg/day), folic acid (5mg/day) and sorghum bicolor extract (500mg/day) for 3 weeks, to try and improve red blood cell levels before surgery 2.
After 3 weeks, there were highly significant increases in hematocrit, hemoglobin concentrations and red blood cell count (P<0.002, P<0.0001 and P<0.0001 respectively) in the test group, while only the hemoglobin concentration was increased in the control group (P<0.04) 2. These results indicate greater improvement in anemia with sorghum bicolor extract 2 than with iron and folic acid.
Although levels remained in the normal range, there were significant changes in liver function tests (AST from 17.4 to 24.05 IU/L P=0.034 and creatinine from 0.99 to 0.74 mg/dL P=0.05). For this reason, researchers suggest regular monitoring of liver functions if on long-term extract consumption 2.
In conclusion, approximately 15% of patents with preoperative anemia will benefit from the addition of sorghum bicolor extract, as a simple, low-cost intervention. Future research is needed to confirm the results and investigate longer-term effects of the extract on the liver 2.
Source: Tayo AO, et al. An open-label, randomized, parallel-group comparative study on the efficacy of sorghum bicolor extract in preoperative anemia. Nutrition 2016 DOI:10.1016/j.nut.2016.05.005
Posted November 21, 2016.
References:
- WHO. Global Anaemia Prevalence and Number of Individuals Affected.
- Tayo AO, Dosunmu AO, Akinola IO, et al. An open-label, randomized, parallel-group comparative study of the efficacy of sorghum bicolor extract in preoperative anemia. Nutrition. 2017;33:113-117.
- Wu WC, Schifftner TL, Henderson WG, et al. Preoperative hematocrit levels and postoperative outcomes in older patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. Jama. 2007;297(22):2481-2488.
- Khanna MP, Hebert PC, Fergusson DA. Review of the clinical practice literature on patient characteristics associated with perioperative allogeneic red blood cell transfusion. Transfusion medicine reviews. 2003;17(2):110-119.
- Ayuba GI, Jensen GS, Benson KF, Okubena AM, Okubena O. Clinical efficacy of a West African sorghum bicolor-based traditional herbal preparation Jobelyn shows increased hemoglobin and CD4+ T-lymphocyte counts in HIV-positive patients. Journal of alternative and complementary medicine (New York, NY). 2014;20(1):53-56.
