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Published on: March 14, 2017

Amlodipine reduces cardiac iron overload in patients with thalassemia major: a pilot trial

Juliano Lara Fernandes1, Erika Fontana Sampaio, Kleber Fertrin

  • 1Internal Medicine Department, University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil. jlaraf@fcm.unicamp.br

The American Journal of Medicine
|July 9, 2013
PubMed

Insights

Adding amlodipine to iron chelation therapy significantly improved heart iron levels in thalassemia major patients. This calcium channel blocker shows promise for treating iron overload, particularly in the heart.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Hematology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Thalassemia major patients often experience iron overload despite chelation therapy.
  • Iron accumulation can be exacerbated in organs with calcium channel-mediated iron uptake.
  • Standard chelation may not fully prevent iron overload in all affected organs.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate if amlodipine, a calcium channel blocker, enhances iron chelation efficacy.
  • To assess amlodipine's effect on iron overload in thalassemia major patients.
  • To investigate amlodipine's role in preventing organ damage due to iron overload.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized pilot study involving 15 thalassemia major patients.
  • Patients received standard chelation therapy with or without amlodipine for 12 months.
  • Cardiac and liver iron levels were monitored using MRI T2* values.

Main Results:

  • Amlodipine significantly increased heart T2* values at 6 and 12 months compared to baseline.
  • No significant changes in heart T2* were observed in the control group.
  • The amlodipine group showed reduced ferritin levels and significant inter-group differences in heart T2* at 6 months.

Conclusions:

  • Amlodipine combined with chelation therapy may offer a novel strategy against iron overload in thalassemia major.
  • This approach is particularly relevant for organs like the heart where iron uptake involves calcium channels.
  • Amlodipine could be a valuable adjunct therapy for managing iron overload complications.
Abstract

Keywords:
Iron overloadMagnetic resonance imagingThalassemia

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