Clinical laboratories employ in vitro anticoagulant, such as Ethylenediaminetetraacetic Acid (EDTA) for complete blood count (CBC), which is commonly synthetic and expensive. Averrhoa bilimbi (kamias), which contains oxalate, may be a natural substitute source of anticoagulant. This research aimed to assess the influence of kamias ethanolic fruit extracts (KEFE) on various CBC parameters and cells microscopically. Comparisons of different concentrations of KEFE-treated blood (2, 3, 4 mg/ml) were done against the EDTA-blood. The study was an experimental research. Blood were collected from 16 volunteers free from cardiovascular diseases with normal CBC. The clotting time of the blood with KEFE showed no visible coagulation for concentrations of 3 mg/ mL and 4 mg/mL even after 180 minutes of observation, while the blood with 2 mg/mL and plain blood showed a clot formation within 15 minutes. Based on the CBC parameters result, the blood treated with KEFE showed significant difference only for the platelet count between groups (p>0.000); the rest of the CBC parameters were insignificantly different. The microscopic evaluations of KEFE-blood smears were comparable to EDTA blood smears. With this, the KEFE demonstrated comparable anticoagulation activity towards EDTA. The kamias, KEFE, is a feasible substitute anticoagulant for CBC testing.
ISSN 2244-6532 (Online)
ISSN 1656-0604 (Print)
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