Some comments on the effectiveness of the therapy for Β-thalassemia

Abstract

In the present study, twenty-five samples of red blood cells (RBCs) and two samples of lyophilized serum, drawn from thirteen patients with Β-thanassemia major, have been examined by Mossbauer spectroscopy. All these patients undergo long-term therapy by regular blood transfusion and deferoxamine. The samples were obtained at the end of one cycle of treatments, before the successive blood transfusion. The results show, within the experimental errors, that the ferritin-like iron appears to be absent in the RBCs of the patients but it is still present in the serum.