title: Zinc status in patients with major beta-thalassemia.
abstract: To determine the zinc status in patients with major beta-thalassemia and its effect on their growth, the authors studied 64 thalassemic patients in comparison with 64 healthy matched individuals. Demographic and anthropometric data and history of the therapies were collected. Serum zinc level in both groups and ferritin in the thalassemic group were assigned. Interestingly, mean serum zinc level was significantly higher in the thalassemic group. No significant correlation between serum zinc level and short stature, serum ferritin level, desferrioxamine dose, initiating time of blood transfusion, and chelation therapy was found. The study indicates zinc deficiency in thalassemic patients who are on regular blood transfusion is rare and it seems that routine zinc supplementation is not necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Shaheed Beheshti Medical University, Tehran, Iran. mahshid_mehdizadeh@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Mahshid
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mehdizadeh
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zamani
authors.forename: Shahrzad
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tabatabaee
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001827:Body Height; D001835:Body Weight; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood* / Q000172:deficiency; D017086:beta-Thalassemia / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc