Evaluation Of Antisickling Activity Of Some Insect Extracts From Katanga In Democratic Republic Of The Congo

Democratic Republic of the Congo boasts a large animal and vegetal biodiversity that can be used to alleviate the pain of people affected by sickle cell disease. If some local plant species were tested for their antisickling activity, no Congolese insect species were subjected to this kind of study. In this work, some insect species from Katanga province were collected and their methanol extracts tested for antisickling activity. Nine insect species among which two are edible were identified. They belong to eight families and three orders. The Lepidoptera order contains 55.6% of studied species. The evaluation of the in vitro antisickling activity indicates that Chrysirida madagascariensis specie, inedible caterpillars of the family of Psychidea and order of Lepidoptera, showed the highest activity with an inhibition rate of about 60%. This indicates that there could be other insect species with interesting antisickling activity like some plant species whose biological activity has been proven.