The Effectiveness of Coumarin from Intsia bijuga as an Anticoagulant to Laboratory Human Blood Samples

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Laboratory testing is essential in providing quality healthcare. Most errors happen during the pre-analytical phase of laboratory tests. This includes those which are greatly associated with blood, blood clotting, and anticoagulants (Finnegan, 2016). Coumarin is an anticoagulant which can be found in the Ipil plant, one of the most abundant plants in the Philippines. Hence, this project proposes to use coumarin from Ipil leaves as an alternative anticoagulant to laboratory human blood samples.

METHODS

The researchers extracted coumarin from Ipil leaves collected from the Cainta Plant Nursery. The leaves have undergone ethanolic crude extraction and produced 17.0 g of semi-solid extract. The extract was obtained to be analyzed directly by HPLC-UV to obtain pure coumarin extract. The extract was combined with the blood samples and then the samples were subjected for Prothrombin Time (PT), Partial Thromboplastin Time (PTT), International Normalized Ratio (INR), and Percentage Activity using an anti-coagulation analyzer at St. Ignatius de Loyola Health Care Services.

RESULTS

The experimentation was performed to evaluate the anticoagulant property of Ipil leaves. The four blood samples were tested in four different assays namely the PT, Percentage Activity, PTT, and INR. The results of the PT test showed that the higher volume of the extract results to a quicker rate of coagulation. The results of the Percentage Activity are inversely proportional to the results in the PT. Finally, in the PTT test and the INR, the results showed that 0.2 mL is the most effective amount of extract in slowing down the coagulation time of blood. However, the 0.5 mL and 0.7 mL of extracts mixed with blood, though tested twice, showed no result.

DISCUSSIONS

With the given data and results, Ipil leaves have been proven as an effective anticoagulant. Ethanolic crude extract from Ipil leaves that contain an anticoagulant component, particularly coumarin, is effective in delaying blood coagulation. However, there is a difference in the efficiency of different concentrations of Ipil leaves extract on blood samples.