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Serum Levels of Selected Elements in Patients with Beta Thalassemia Major

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Abstract

β-thalassemia major is a significant health problem in the world that obliges patient to repeated blood transfusions. Frequent transfusions cause toxic iron overload and the association between serum iron levels and β-thalassemia major have been extensively studied in literature. Nonetheless, data on trace elements is still limited. The aim of this work was to study the relationship between some trace element levels in serum and β-thalassemia major. The quantifications of Al, K, Sn, Sb, Ni, Cr, Cd, Ba, Co, As and Se elements were carried out by Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry system. Mann Whitney U test is performed in order to test the statistical difference between patient and control groups in terms of their element concentrations. Significant differences were observed for the concentrations of Al, K, Sn and Sb elements and for the correlation between concentrations of K—Sb elements. The study indicates higher levels of Al and Sb, and lower levels of K and Sn elements of patients when compared to control group. These findings reveal the altered profile of serum trace element concentrations and so, further studies are required to evaluate the potential of trace elements as biomarkers and/or to administrate their levels in blood to reduce the related complications.

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Data Availability

Available upon request from ayseturgutsahin@gmail.com.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

The ethical committee of the University of Health Sciences, Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital approved the research protocol and gave ethical permission.

Informed consent were taken from all subjects in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants, or from guardians or parents on behalf of participants for the subjects under the age of 18 years.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pediatric, Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, İstanbul, Turkey

    Ayşe Şahin

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Yıldız Technical University, 34349, İstanbul, Turkey

    Elif Öztürk Er

  3. Department of Statistics, Yıldız Technical University, 34349, İstanbul, Turkey

    Ersoy Öz

  4. Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, İstanbul, Turkey

    Zeynep Yıldız Yıldırmak

  5. Department of Chemistry, Yıldız Technical University, 34349, İstanbul, Turkey

    Sezgin Bakırdere

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  1. Ayşe Şahin
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  2. Elif Öztürk Er
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  3. Ersoy Öz
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  4. Zeynep Yıldız Yıldırmak
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  5. Sezgin Bakırdere
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Contributions

Ayşe Şahin contributed to sample collection, data analysis, literature search and manuscript preparation. Elif Öztürk Er contributed to sample preparation, analysis, literature search and manuscript preparation. Ersoy Öz contributed to statistic analysis and manuscript preparation. Zeynep Yıldız Yıldırmak contributed to sample collection. Sezgin Bakırdere contributed to sample analysis, literature search, manuscript preparation and language editing.

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Correspondence to Ayşe Şahin.

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Şahin, A., Er, E.Ö., Öz, E. et al. Serum Levels of Selected Elements in Patients with Beta Thalassemia Major. Biol Trace Elem Res 200, 1502–1507 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02768-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-021-02768-1

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