Are thalassemia patients oxidatively challenged?

Repeated blood transfusions is the mainstay of treatment for beta thalassemia major patients. Multiple blood transfusions lead to significant iron overload in these patients. Iron overload causes liberation of oxygen free radicals and peroxidative lipid injury. This study has been designed to study whether thalassemics suffer from oxidative injury. It also aims to study the quantum of oxidative injury.

It is a cross sectional study using cases and controls. Thirty thalassemic patients receiving multiple blood transfusions were included in this study and thirty healthy age and sex matched controls were recruited for the study. Serum ferritin levels, malondialdehyde, nitric oxide levels were estimated.

Levels of all the three parameters were significantly increased (p < 0.05) in the cases compared to controls. Mean levels of all three parameters were correlated with serum ferritin levels and number of blood transfusions in increasing order. All the parameters showed fair degree of correlation (r ≥ 0.25, p ≤ 0.05).

Thalassemic patients receiving multiple blood transfusion suffer from iron overload which results in increased oxidative stress.