BACKGROUND Although a marked proportion of thalassemic patients acquire Torque teno virus (TTV) through blood transfusion, its clinical importance is unclear. This study was designed to investigate the clinical importance of TTV infection in thalassemic patients with and without hepatitis C virus (HCV) co-infection in Iran. METHODS In this case-control study, 107 thalassemic patients on chron...

Objective: β-Thalassemia is one of the familiar single gene disorders which passes from parents to offspring. The prevalence of β-thalassemia trait varies from 1-14% in different regions of India. Every year almost 9000 β-thalassemic major children are being born in the Indian sub-continent. In the present study, the prevalence of β-thalassemia trait was checked and some screening tests were pe...

beta-Thalassemic mice provide a useful model for studying the pathophysiology of human beta-thalassemia in that one can perform experiments that are difficult to perform in humans. The ease of access to beta-thalassemic mouse marrow provided the opportunity to explore the cause of the ineffective erythropoiesis that characterizes severe beta-thalassemia in mouse and man. We hypothesized that th...

Background. MRI has emerged for the noninvasive assessment of iron overload in various tissues. The aim of this paper is to evaluate hepatic and pancreatic iron overload by T2(∗) weighted gradient echo MRI in young beta-thalassemia major patients and to correlate it with glucose disturbance and postsplenectomy status. Subjects and Methods. 50 thalassemic patients, in addition to 15 healthy cont...

A modified antiglobulin test, based on the high affinity between the Fc portion of the red blood cell (RBC) bound IgG and the Fc receptor on the myeloid cell K-562, was utilized for demonstration of immunoglobulins (Ig) on thalassemic RBC. Ig was found on the RBC of 73 out of 80 patients with thalassemia. The immunoglobulins on the thalassemic RBC belonged to the IgG subclass and were autoreact...

Plasmodium falciparum infecting alpha-thalassemic erythrocytes (Hb H or Hb H/Hb Constant Spring) is resistant to artemisinin derivatives. Similar resistance, albeit at a much lower level, is shown by the parasite infecting beta-thalassemia/Hb E erythrocytes. The resistance is due to host-specific factors, one of which is the higher uptake of the drugs by thalassemic erythrocytes than normal ery...

BACKGROUND Thalassemic patients suffer from diabetes mellitus secondary to hemosiderosis. AIMS The study aimed to evaluate pancreatic iron overload by T2*-weighted Gradient-echo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in young beta-thalassemia major patients and to correlate it with glucose disturbances, hepatic hemosiderosis, serum ferritin and splenectomy. METHODS Forty thalassemic patients (20 ...

Thalassemia and hemoglobin E (Hb E) are common in Thailand. Individuals with thalassemia trait usually have a normal hemoglobin concentration or mild anemia. Therefore, thalassemic individuals who have minimum acceptable Hb level may be accepted as blood donors. This study was aimed at determining the frequency of α-thalassemia 1 trait, β-thalassemia trait, and Hb E-related syndromes in Souther...

Anemia in beta-thalassemia is caused by a combination of ineffective erythropoiesis and premature hemolysis of RBC in the peripheral circulation. Excess of the alpha-globin chain present in beta-thalassemic RBC is mainly responsible for oxidative damage of erythrocyte membrane protein. The activities of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase, glutathione reductase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutat...

AIM Thalassemia is a group of inherited hemoglobinopathies with thalassemia major representing the severe form of the disease characterized by craniofacial deformities. The aim of this study is to provide a detailed description of dental arch dimensions in subjects with thalassemia major. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The sample consisted of 43 thalassemic subjects, 24 males and 19 females, aged 7.3 t...