The Effect of Long-Term Iron Chelator Therapy on Serum Levels of Hepcidin and Ferritin in Patients with Thalassemia Major and Intermediate

AbstractSerum hepcidin is a good predictor of iron overload compared with serum ferritin. However, serum hepcidin levels may change under different conditions. The current study aims to determine the role of long-term iron chelator therapy on serum levels of hepcidin and ferritin in patients with thalassemia major (TM) and intermediate (TI). In this cross-sectional study 91 patients with thalassemia TM and TI, who referred to the thalassemia center were chosen. The serum levels of hepcidin and ferritin were measured after two years of iron chelator therapy by ELISA and ECL methods, respectively. The patients' demographic information was extracted from their records. After treatment with iron chelator,ferritin levelsdecreased in 44patients (48.4%), andincreased in 47patients (%51.6). Median serum levels of hepcidindecreased in all patients (%100). Also, there was a significant association between serum levels of hepcidin and ferritin (p value  = 0.034).Furthermore,while a significant difference was observed between ferritin changes (p = 0.01), no difference was found between changes in hepcidin based on the type of iron chelator (p value  = 0.94). Increased levels of hepcidin and ferritin in β-thalassemia patients are significantly ameliorated by iron chelator.
Source: Indian Journal of Hematology and Blood Transfusion - Category: Hematology Source Type: research