Oxidant and Antioxidant Status in Serum of Patients with β-Thalassemia After and Before Blood Transfusion

Abstract

Regular blood transfusions and the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in β-thalassemia disorders may be a key feature of disorders development and tissue injury. Although some reports suggest endogenous free radical damage in thalassemia, there remains discrepancy in the status of non-enzymatic antioxidant. Therefore in the present study, we investigated the oxidative stress by measuring the lipid peroxidation marker, malondialdehyde ( MDA ), and attempted to shed a light on the possible correlation relationships between (MDA ) and some preventative antioxidants (ceruloplasmin (Cp), transferrin ( Tf ) and albumin ( Alb )), in serum of patients with β-thalassemia after ( A ) and before ( B ) blood transfusion. In accordance, analysis of sera of ( 75 ) transfusion-dependent β-thalassemic patients, aged 2 to 30 years, showed increased oxidative stress as indicated by increased ( MDA ) in groups after and before blood transfusion compared to control group ( C ). The increase in serum MDA in group ( A ) was non significant ( P > 0.05 ) as compared to the group ( C ). A significant elevation ( P ≤ 0.05 ) was found in MDA level for group ( B ) compared to control group. Also a significant higher levels ( P ≤ 0.05 ) was found in MDA of group ( B ) compared to group ( A ). The level of antioxidant such as Cp is markedly increased ( P ≤ 0.05 ) in groups after ( A ) and before ( B ) blood transfusion compared to control group ( C ) while the concentration of other antioxidants including Tf and Alb in groups ( A ) and ( B ) were significantly decreased ( P ≤ 0.05) compared to control group ( C ). Also we observed the elevation values in Cp levels ( P ≤ 0.05 ) and the lower values in the levels of Tf ( P > 0.05 ) were found after blood transfusion more than their levels before blood transfusion while the lower values in the levels of Alb ( P ≤ 0.05 ) was found in before blood transfusion more than after blood transfusion. The correlation coefficient ( r ) test is used to describe the association between lipid peroxidation products and different antioxidants. MDA was negatively correlated with some serum antioxidant ( Tf and Alb ), while correlated with Cp levels positively assuring their function as antioxidant.