TY - JOUR
T1 - Levels of growth differentiation factor-15 are high and correlate with clinical severity in transfusion-independent patients with β thalassemia intermedia
AU - Musallam, Khaled M.
AU - Taher, Ali T.
AU - Duca, Lorena
AU - Cesaretti, Claudia
AU - Halawi, Racha
AU - Cappellini, Maria Domenica
PY - 2011/12/15
Y1 - 2011/12/15
N2 - Transfusion-independent patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI) experience a variety of clinical complications attributed to the underlying ineffective erythropoiesis and subsequent anemia, hemolysis, and iron overload. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) was recently investigated as a marker of ineffective erythropoiesis in several anemias. In this work, we evaluated GDF-15 levels in 55 patients with TI. The mean GDF-15 level was 25,197.8.. 16,208.9. pg/ml which is lower than values reported for patients with thalassemia major, yet considerably higher than those reported in patients with other congenital and acquired anemias. GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in splenectomized compared to non-splenectomized patients and correlated with anemia, markers of iron overload, and a pre-defined clinical severity score. Further studies are needed to determine the practical utility of GDF-15 measurement and its potential to reflect the severity of the clinical course in TI patients.
AB - Transfusion-independent patients with thalassemia intermedia (TI) experience a variety of clinical complications attributed to the underlying ineffective erythropoiesis and subsequent anemia, hemolysis, and iron overload. Growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) was recently investigated as a marker of ineffective erythropoiesis in several anemias. In this work, we evaluated GDF-15 levels in 55 patients with TI. The mean GDF-15 level was 25,197.8.. 16,208.9. pg/ml which is lower than values reported for patients with thalassemia major, yet considerably higher than those reported in patients with other congenital and acquired anemias. GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in splenectomized compared to non-splenectomized patients and correlated with anemia, markers of iron overload, and a pre-defined clinical severity score. Further studies are needed to determine the practical utility of GDF-15 measurement and its potential to reflect the severity of the clinical course in TI patients.
KW - Clinical complications
KW - Growth differentiation factor-15
KW - Ineffective erythropoiesis
KW - Iron overload
KW - Thalassemia intermedia
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U2 - 10.1016/j.bcmd.2011.07.005
DO - 10.1016/j.bcmd.2011.07.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 21865063
AN - SCOPUS:82955187600
VL - 47
SP - 232
EP - 234
JO - Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases
JF - Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases
SN - 1079-9796
IS - 4
ER -