EVALUATION OF THE PROFILE OF IRON IN DIFFERENT PHENOTYPES OF BETA-THALASSEMIA IN
FORTALEZA, CEARÁ.
GONÇALVES, R.P.1, MARTINS, M.F.2, BARBOSA, M.C.3, ARRUDA, A.B.L¹., SOUZA, I.P.¹, DUARTE, F.B.4,
SANTOS,T.N.4, PEDROSA, A.M². e-mail: [email protected]
1
Professor at the Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analyses of the Pharmacy Course -Universidade Federal do
Ceará. Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
2
Post graduate student in the area of Drug Development and Technological Innovation - Universidade Federal do Ceará.
Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
3
Undergraduate research student in the - Universidade Federal do Ceará. Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
4
Clinical hematologist – Hemocentro of Ceará. Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil.
Keywords: thalassemia, phenotype, iron
1. Introduction
Beta thalassemia is a hereditary
anemia
resulting from mutations
that promote the
reduction or absence of
synthesis of beta
chains of
hemoglobin. Consequently, there
is a relative
excess of alpha chains of hemoglobin, preventing the
maturation oferythroid cells and causes chronic hemolytic
anemia and erythropoiesis ineficaz.
A
consequence
of ineffective erythropoiesis is increasing iron absorption
from the gastrointestinal tract, which generates in
patients with beta thalassemia is a risk ofoverload of
this metal,
since the body has
no mechanism to
increase their excretion. O presente estudo teve como
objetivo principal avaliar o perfil do ferro em pacientes
com beta talassemia acompanhados pelo serviço de
hematologia de um hospital de referência em Fortaleza Ceará.
Figure 1. Boxplot of profile parameters of iron in patients
with beta-thalassemia.
Figure 2. Increasing trend of serum ferritin levels with
the decrease in hemoglobin concentration. p=0.0495.
2. Methods
The sample was consisted by 20 women with clinical and
laboratory diagnosis of beta-thalassemia minor and
intermedia. A control group was formed by 20 women
blood donors. The following tests were performed on all
participants in the study: complete blood count, serum
iron and serum ferritin, total capacity of iron binding
(CTLFe), latent capacity for iron binding (CLLFe) and
transferrin saturation index (STI). Statistical analysis was
performed using one-way anova. The significance criteria
utilized was p<0,05.
4. Conclusion
3. Results
The group with thalassemia intermedia had increased
serum iron parameters, serum ferritin and STI and
decreased CLLFe CTLFe and compared to those with
thalassemia minor and control, with all differences
statistically significant. There was no statistical difference
between control group and the group with thalassemia
trait in all the profile parameters of iron (Figure 1). There
was a tendency to have higher ferritin levels with the
decrease in hemoglobin (p = 0.0495) (Figure 2).
The relevance of results reinforces the importance of
clinical and laboratory monitoring of patients with beta
thalassemia, focusing on the detection and treatment of
iron overload.
Acknowledgments
Universidade Federal do Ceará and Fundação Cearense de
Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico (FUNCAP).