Serum uric acid: an early indicator of oxidative stress in beta thalassemia population

Iron induced alteration in the redox balance is a major complication in the beta thalassemia major patients receiving regular blood transfusion. Variable degrees of association between uric acid level with the free iron and its storage form ferritin in thalassemic patients are suggested to play a significant role in this alteration by an unclear mechanism. In the present study, we made an effort to analyze the association of serum uric acid with oxidative stress and to evaluate the predictive value of serum iron, serum ferritin and serum uric acid level on oxidative stress induced lipid peroxidation in beta thalassemic patients. For this we assayed these parameters in 61 patients of β thalassemia major and 51 age and sex matched controls of a rural area of West Bengal. Serum TBARS, serum Uric acid, serum Ferritin and serum Iron levels were significantly higher in the patient group (p<0.001 for all of them). Significant correlations existed between serum levels of TBARS, Uric acid, Ferritin and Iron levels in the patient group whereas only serum TBARS levels showed significant correlation with serum iron level in the control group. Regression analysis revealed that uric acid levels have a better predictive value (β=0.3, p=0.001) than serum ferritin value (β=0.013, p=0.871) for indicating TBARS production.