Immunomodulatory Effects of Silymarin in Patients With Beta-Thalassemia Major
Immune AbnormalitiesA wide spectrum of immune abnormalities has been described by numerous studies involving β-thalassemic patients with multiple transfusions. The abnormalities observed are both quantitative and functional, and concern several components of the immune response. Flavonoids are phenolic compounds widely distributed in plants, which were reported to exert multiple biological effects, including antioxidant and free radical scavenging abilities. Silymarin, a flavonolignan complex isolated from milk thistle (Silybum marianum L. Gaertn), have been classified as cytoprotective, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and especially as hepatoprotective agents. Silymarin is already being used clinically for treatment of liver diseases.It is considered safe and well-tolerated, with reported adverse events similar to placebo. Several studies have also reported immunomodulatory actions of silymarin. It increases lymphocyte proliferation, interferon gamma, interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 secretions by stimulated lymphocytes in a dose-dependent manner. It has been shown that in vitro treatment of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with silymarin causes restoration of the thiol status and increases in T cell proliferation and activation. Because reactive oxygen species and iron overload play important roles in the pathophysiology of thalassemia, silymarin may be an effective therapy due to its antioxidant, immunomodulatory, cytoprotective and iron chelating activities. The present study designed to investigate the therapeutic activity of orally administered silymarin for treatment of β-thalassemia major, a well-known and prevalent disease in Iran, which is associated with oxidative stress, iron overload and immune abnormalities.
Post Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation
Iron Overload After Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) in Patients With Beta-thalassemia MajorThis was a prospective, single-arm, multicenter, national, phase II clinical study. The purpose of this Phase II study was to examine the safety and efficacy of deferasirox to decrease iron overload (IOL) in the posttransplant period in patients with beta-thalassemia major.
Hyalornic Acid Level in β-Thalassemic Children Treated for Hepatitis C Virus
Beta-ThalassemiaHepatitis CPatients with transfusion dependent Beta Thalassemia suffer from a high incidence of Hepatitis C infection especially in developed countries as Egypt. In our patients we also found a high correlation between hepatitic C infection and Liver fibrosis. in this study we offer our patients treatment with Direct antiviral drugs and assessed the degree of fibrosis before and after treatment. We tested Hyalornic acid as a predictor of the degree of fibrosis before and after treatment.
Resistance Exercise on Postprandial Hyperglycemia in Patients With B-thalassemia Exhibiting Resistance...
Beta-ThalassemiaInsulin Resistance3 moreIt is known that postprandial hyperglycemia increases the cardiometabolic risk in both diabetic and non-diabetic patients. Moreover, there is insufficient data on the effectiveness of exercise on preventing Type II diabetes mellitus in individuals with insulin resistance and prediabetes. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of resistance exercise in limiting postprandial hyperglycemia and the necessity of prescribing medication particularly in patients with beta-thalassemia and insulin resistance.
Effect of Spirulina Compared to Amlodipine on Cardiac Iron Overload in Children With Beta Thalassemia...
Beta Thalassemia Majorthe aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of Spirulina compared to Amlodipine on cardiac iron overload and cardiac functions in multi-transfused children with beta thalassemia major
Safety Study for Beta Thalassemia Subjects on PTG-300
β-thalassemiaIneffective ErythropoiesisIn this study will investigate long term safety and use of the PTG-300 in Beta Thalassemia patients.
Amlodipine in the Prevention and Treatment of Iron Overload in Patients With Thalassemia Major
ThalassemiaIron OverloadThis study aims to investigate the use of amlodipine, a drug that blocks the uptake of calcium into cells, in the prevention and treatment of iron overload in patients with thalassemia major. Since iron uses the same calcium channels to enter the heart, pancreas and other organs, blocking these channels might help to prevent the accumulation of iron in these tissues. The study will follow 60 patients with thalassemia major: 30 will receive amlodipine and 30 will serve as controls receiving placebo in a randomized double-blind fashion. Patients will be monitored through one year. Monitoring will occur through the measurement of blood ferritin as well as live and heart T2* by MRI initially, at 6 and 12 months.
Assess the Feasibility and Safety of Granulocyte Colony Stimulating Factor (GCSF) Mobilization of...
Beta Thalassemia MajorCongenital AnemiasBetathalassemia major is a disease of the blood and bone marrow. You were born with it and it has made you unable to make normal hemoglobin and red cells. You have been receiving red blood cell transfusions all your life. These transfusions do not cure your disease. The problem with transfusions is that they contain a lot of iron. With time iron builds up in your body and will eventually hurt some of your organs . Because of this buildup of iron , you are taking medicine that helps your body get rid of the extra iron. Today, the only other treatment is bone marrow or stem cell transplant. It can only be done when a matched donor is available. This is most often a brother, sister, or parent. Bone marrow transplant may cure betathalassemia major. If you have a transplant and it is successful, you will no longer have the disease. Without a matched sibling or parent, the standard treatment is to keep having transfusions. In the near future, we will be testing a new treatment for making normal hemoglobin and normal red blood cells. We have recreated the healthy hemoglobin gene in a test tube. We are able to use it and put it back into cells. This is called gene therapy. We have been able to put this gene into the stem cells of mice with thalassemia. These mice were cured. We now plan to take that gene and put it into stem cells from people who have betathalassemia major. We will then inject those stem cells back into that person's blood. In general, we can obtain more stem cells from the blood of a person than from the bone marrow . In order to do so, we must give that person a blood growth factor. The growth factor stimulates the bone marrow to make more stem cells. That growth factor is called granulocyte colony stimulating factor (GCSF), or Filgrastim. The purpose of this trial is to find out if the drug GCSF has any side effects on you, and if you will make more stem cells in response to it. This trial is not a gene therapy trial. This trial will not help your thalassemia.
A Study of Long-term Treatment With Deferasirox in Patients With Beta-thalassemia and Transfusional...
Beta-ThalassemiaHemosiderosisBecause patients with beta-thalassemia are unable to actively eliminate iron from the body, toxic and eventually lethal levels of iron can accumulate as a result of repeated blood transfusions. This study will evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of deferasirox.
An Extension Study of Iron Chelation Therapy With Deferasirox (ICL670) in β-thalassemia Patients...
Transfusional Iron Overload in β-thalassemiaA 1-year randomized Phase III core trial (NCT00061750) using deferoxamine as the comparator was conducted to investigate the efficacy of deferasirox in regularly transfused patients with β-thalassemia 2 years of age and older. Patients who successfully completed this main trial may continue in this extension trial to receive chelation therapy with deferasirox for an additional 4 years. The objective of this study is to assess the efficacy and long-term safety of deferasirox in regularly transfused patients with β-thalassemia 2 years of age and older.