In vivo action of Vanillin on delay time determined by magnetic relaxation.

The antisickling action on polymerization of 4-hydroxy-3-metoxybenzaldehyde (Vanillin) was demonstrated in vivo in a double blind, placebo-controlled clinical therapeutic trial performed in 30 patients (11 belonging to the control group), through the increment of the delay time (td). The td was observed in the kinetic curve of the polymerization of the Hb S solution at 26 degrees C and pH 7.4. The kinetics of the Hb S aliquots was monitored by measuring the proton spin-spin magnetic relaxation time (T2) at 4 MHz. The kinetic curve families of the control group showed similarities and the td values remained constant during the 8 weeks of the study. This was not so for the patients treated with Vanillin, for which the td increased on average 1.6 times. On the other hand, the relative variation of drepanocytes observed by the Simple Test decreased 24.50% Both results indicate a decrease in the effectiveness of the polymerization process.