BACKGROUND Increased hepatic iron is assumed to potentiate progression towards liver fibrosis in chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. In this study we have evaluated the potentiating effect of marked hepatic iron overload and chronic HCV infection on hepatic fibrosis in thalassemic patients. METHODS Liver biopsies of one group of patients with beta thalassemia major and chronic HCV infe...

Hemoglobinopathies have a protective role in malaria that appears to be related to alterations in red blood cell (RBC) properties. Thalassemic RBCs infected with Plasmodium falciparum showed greatly reduced cytoadherence and rosetting properties as well as impaired growth and multiplication. A significant decrease in the levels of falciparum antigens associated with the membrane of infected 8-t...

Despite recent advances in iron chelation therapy, excess iron deposition in pituitary gonadotropic cells remains one of the major problems in thalassemic patients. Hypogonadism, mostly hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, is usually detected during puberty. Early diagnosis and treatment are crucial for normal pubertal development and to reduce the complications of hypogonadism. The risks and benefit...

Thalassemia is a chronic hereditary disease in which patients with severe disease present with anemia during their first year of life. In Thailand, stem cell transplantation is not an option for most patients. Supportive treatments, such as blood transfusions and iron chelation are used. Little data exists regarding the Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) of these patients. We conducted a st...

A cross sectional study was carried out at various hospitals of Faisalabad city. The aim of current study was to investigate the prevalence of β-thalassemia disease in hospital population related to age, consanguinity and anti-HCV antibody positivity. For this purpose, 300 patients were interviewed for the different parameters including specific type of β-thalassemia disease, their family histo...

Beta-thalassemia major is characterized by ineffective erythropoiesis leading to severe anemia and extensive erythroid expansion. The ineffective erythropoiesis is in part due to accelerated apoptosis of the thalassemic erythroid precursors; however, the extent of apoptosis is surprisingly variable. To understand this variability as well as the fact that some patients undergoing allogeneic marr...

To further define the nature of abnormal iron deposits on the membranes of pathologic red blood cells, we have used sickle cell anemia (HbSS), HbSC, and beta-thalassemic erythrocytes (RBCs) to prepare inside-out membranes (IOM) and insoluble membrane aggregates (AGGs) containing coclustered hemichrome and band 3. Study of IOM from HbSC and thalassemic patients showed that amounts of heme iron a...

BACKGROUND beta-thalassemia occurs from the imbalanced globin chain synthesis due to the absence or inadequate beta-globin chain production. The excessive unbound alpha-globin chains precipitate in erythroid precursors and mature red blood cells leading to ineffective erythropoiesis and hemolysis. DESIGN AND METHODS In vitro globin chain synthesis in reticulocytes from different types of thal...

BACKGROUND β-Thalassemic children have oxidative stress and antioxidant deficiency even without iron overload status. In these patients, tissue damage due to oxidative stress may be occurred. Also, it seems that thalassemic patients have higher levels of ALT, AST therefore, the main aim of the present study was to determine the benefits of vitamin E as an antioxidant supplements in β-Thalassemi...

Objective: to study the impact of haptoglobin gene polymorphism on iron overload, oxidative stress and antimullerian hormone in BTM women in Egypt. Methods: case-control study. 47 BTM women, aged between 16-26 years and 47 age-matched regularly menstruating women as control. Haptoglobin Hp1/2 gene polymorphism by PCR, Hemoglobin electrophoresis, serum haptoglobin, ferritin, malondialdehyde MDA,...