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Ricchi P, Pistoia L, Positano V, Spasiano A, Casini T, Putti MC, Borsellino Z, Cossu A, Messina G, Keilberg P, Fatigati C, Costantini S, Renne S, Peritore G, Cademartiri F, Meloni A. Liver steatosis in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassaemia. Br J Haematol 2024; 204:2458-2467. [PMID: 38685724 DOI: 10.1111/bjh.19496] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/15/2024] [Accepted: 04/17/2024] [Indexed: 05/02/2024]
Abstract
We evaluated the prevalence and the clinical associations of liver steatosis (LS) in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassaemia (TDT). We considered 301 TDT patients (177 females, median age = 40.61 years) enrolled in the Extension-Myocardial Iron Overload in Thalassaemia Network, and 25 healthy subjects. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to quantify iron overload and hepatic fat fraction (FF) by T2* technique and cardiac function by cine images. The glucose metabolism was assessed by the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Hepatic FF was significantly higher in TDT patients than in healthy subjects (median value: 1.48% vs. 0.55%; p = 0.013). In TDT, hepatic FF was not associated with age, gender, serum ferritin levels or liver function parameters, but showed a weak inverse correlation with high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The 36.4% of TDT patients showed LS (FF >3.7%). Active hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, increased body mass index and hepatic iron were independent determinants of LS. A hepatic FF >3.53% predicted the presence of an abnormal OGTT. Hepatic FF was not correlated with cardiac iron, biventricular volumes or ejection fractions, but was correlated with left ventricular mass index. In TDT, LS is a frequent finding, associated with iron overload, increased weight and HCV, and conveying an increased risk for the alterations of glucose metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paolo Ricchi
- Unità Operativa Semplice Dipartimentale Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Napoli, Italy
| | - Laura Pistoia
- U.O.C. Ricerca Clinica, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Positano
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
- Bioengineering Unit, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Anna Spasiano
- Unità Operativa Semplice Dipartimentale Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Napoli, Italy
| | - Tommaso Casini
- Oncologia, Ematologia e Trapianto di Cellule Staminali Emopoietiche, Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS, Firenze, Italy
| | - Maria Caterina Putti
- Dipartimento Della Salute Della Donna e del Bambino, Clinica di Emato-Oncologia Pediatrica, Azienda Ospedaliero-Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Zelia Borsellino
- Unità Operativa Complessa Ematologia Con Talassemia, ARNAS Civico "Benfratelli-Di Cristina", Palermo, Italy
| | - Antonella Cossu
- Servizio Immunoematologia e Medicina Trasfusionale - Dipartimento Dei Servizi, Presidio Ospedaliero "San Francesco" ASL Nuoro, Nuoro, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Messina
- Centro Microcitemie, Grande Ospedale Metropolitano "Bianchi-Melacrino-Morelli", Reggio Calabria, Italy
| | - Petra Keilberg
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Carmina Fatigati
- Unità Operativa Semplice Dipartimentale Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Napoli, Italy
| | - Silvia Costantini
- Unità Operativa Semplice Dipartimentale Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Napoli, Italy
| | - Stefania Renne
- Struttura Complessa di Cardioradiologia-UTIC, Presidio Ospedaliero "Giovanni Paolo II", Lamezia Terme, Italy
| | - Giuseppe Peritore
- Unità Operativa Complessa di Radiologia, ARNAS Civico "Benfratelli-Di Cristina", Palermo, Italy
| | - Filippo Cademartiri
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Antonella Meloni
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
- Bioengineering Unit, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
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Lin PC, Hsu WY, Lee PY, Hsu SH, Chiou SS. Insights into Hepatocellular Carcinoma in Patients with Thalassemia: From Pathophysiology to Novel Therapies. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:12654. [PMID: 37628834 PMCID: PMC10454908 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241612654] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2023] [Revised: 08/02/2023] [Accepted: 08/07/2023] [Indexed: 08/27/2023] Open
Abstract
Thalassemia is a heterogeneous congenital hemoglobinopathy common in the Mediterranean region, Middle East, Indian subcontinent, and Southeast Asia with increasing incidence in Northern Europe and North America due to immigration. Iron overloading is one of the major long-term complications in patients with thalassemia and can lead to organ damage and carcinogenesis. Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most common malignancies in both transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT) and non-transfusion-dependent thalassemia (NTDT). The incidence of HCC in patients with thalassemia has increased over time, as better chelation therapy confers a sufficiently long lifespan for the development of HCC. The mechanisms of iron-overloading-associated HCC development include the increased reactive oxygen species (ROS), inflammation cytokines, dysregulated hepcidin, and ferroportin metabolism. The treatment of HCC in patients with thalassemia was basically similar to those in general population. However, due to the younger age of HCC onset in thalassemia, regular surveillance for HCC development is mandatory in TDT and NTDT. Other supplemental therapies and experiences of novel treatments for HCC in the thalassemia population were also reviewed in this article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Chin Lin
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan; (P.-C.L.); (W.-Y.H.); (P.-Y.L.)
- School of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan
| | - Wan-Yi Hsu
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan; (P.-C.L.); (W.-Y.H.); (P.-Y.L.)
| | - Po-Yi Lee
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan; (P.-C.L.); (W.-Y.H.); (P.-Y.L.)
| | - Shih-Hsien Hsu
- Graduate Institute of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan
- Center of Applied Genomics, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan
| | - Shyh-Shin Chiou
- Division of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan; (P.-C.L.); (W.-Y.H.); (P.-Y.L.)
- Center of Applied Genomics, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan
- Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan
- Division of Laboratory Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung 807378, Taiwan
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Origa R. Hepatitis C and Thalassemia: A Story with (Almost) a Happy Ending. Pathogens 2023; 12:pathogens12050683. [PMID: 37242353 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12050683] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/04/2023] [Revised: 04/28/2023] [Accepted: 04/28/2023] [Indexed: 05/28/2023] Open
Abstract
Donor screening has nearly eliminated the risk of hepatitis C virus post-transfusion transmission in resource-rich settings. Moreover, the use of direct antiviral agents made it possible to treat the majority of patients with thalassemia and hepatitis C. However, this achievement, while extremely significant, does not erase the effects of the virus in terms of fibrogenesis and mutagenic risk, and adult patients with thalassemia are facing the long-term consequences of the chronic infection both on the liver and extrahepatically. As in the general population, it is in mainly patients with cirrhosis who are increasing in age, even though they are now HCV RNA-negative, who are at risk of hepatocellular carcinoma, which continues to be statistically much more frequent in individuals with than without thalassemia. In certain resource-limited settings, the World Health Organization has estimated that up to 25 percent of blood donations do not undergo screening. It is therefore not surprising that hepatitis virus infection is still the most prevalent in patients with thalassemia worldwide.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raffaella Origa
- Ospedale Pediatrico Microcitemico, Via Jenner Sn, 09121 Cagliari, Italy
- Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health, University of Cagliari, Cittadella Universitaria di Monserrato Strada Provinciale 8, 09042 Cagliari, Italy
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Meloni A, Pistoia L, Maffei S, Ricchi P, Casini T, Corigliano E, Putti MC, Cuccia L, Argento C, Positano V, Pepe A, Cademartiri F, Vassalle C. Bone status and HCV infection in thalassemia major patients. Bone 2023; 169:116671. [PMID: 36623757 DOI: 10.1016/j.bone.2023.116671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 01/03/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection increases the risk for osteoporosis but this relationship has not been investigated among multi-transfused patients with thalassemia major (TM). We cross-sectionally explored the association of HCV infection with bone mineral density (BMD), vitamin D, and bone turnover biomarkers in TM. METHODS We considered 130 TM patients (41.89 ± 5.49 years, 67 females) enrolled in the E-MIOT (Extension-Myocardial Iron Overload in Thalassemia) Network. BMD measurements taken at the lumbar spine, femoral neck and total hip were expressed as Z-scores, with a BMD Z-score ≤ -2.0 indicating low bone mass. RESULTS Z-scores were not associated with gender, iron overload indices, vitamin D levels, and biochemical bone turnover markers, but decreased with aging and in presence of hypogonadism and were directly correlated with body mass index (BMI). The prevalence of low bone mass was 70.7 %. Three groups of patients were identified: 78 who never contracted the infection (group 0), 72 who cleared HCV (group 1), and 29 with chronic HCV infection (CHC) (group 2). All Z-scores progressively decreased according to HCV status from group 0 to group 2. Osteocalcin levels were significantly lower in groups 2 and 1 than in group 0. CHC patients were more likely to have low bone mass compared to HCV naive patients, after adjusting for age, BMI, hypogonadism, and pancreatic iron. CONCLUSION In TM, CHC appears as one additive risk factor for low bone mass and osteocalcin may play a role in this association.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Meloni
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy; U.O.C. Bioingegneria, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Laura Pistoia
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Silvia Maffei
- Cardiovascular and Gynaecological Endocrinology Unit, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Paolo Ricchi
- Unità Operativa Semplice Dipartimentale Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Napoli, Italy
| | - Tommaso Casini
- Centro Talassemie ed Emoglobinopatie, Ospedale "Meyer", Firenze, Italy
| | | | - Maria Caterina Putti
- Dipartimento della Salute della Donna e del Bambino, Clinica di Emato-Oncologia Pediatrica, Azienda Ospedaliero-Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
| | - Liana Cuccia
- Unità Operativa Complessa Ematologia con Talassemia, ARNAS Civico "Benfratelli-Di Cristina", Palermo, Italy
| | - Crocetta Argento
- Centro di Talasssemia, Ospedale "San Giovanni Di Dio", Agrigento, Italy
| | - Vincenzo Positano
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy; U.O.C. Bioingegneria, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Alessia Pepe
- Institute of Radiology, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
| | - Filippo Cademartiri
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Cristina Vassalle
- Medicina di laboratorio, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy.
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Hsu CC, Senussi NH, Fertrin KY, Kowdley KV. Iron overload disorders. Hepatol Commun 2022; 6:1842-1854. [PMID: 35699322 PMCID: PMC9315134 DOI: 10.1002/hep4.2012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 04/06/2022] [Accepted: 04/16/2022] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Iron overload disorders represent a variety of conditions that lead to increased total body iron stores and resultant end-organ damage. An elevated ferritin and transferrin-iron saturation can be commonly encountered in the evaluation of elevated liver enzymes. Confirmatory homeostatic iron regulator (HFE) genetic testing for C282Y and H63D, mutations most encountered in hereditary hemochromatosis, should be pursued in evaluation of hyperferritinemia. Magnetic resonance imaging with quantitative assessment of iron content or liver biopsy (especially if liver disease is a cause of iron overload) should be used as appropriate. A secondary cause for iron overload should be considered if HFE genetic testing is negative for the C282Y homozygous or C282Y/H63D compound heterozygous mutations. Differential diagnosis of secondary iron overload includes hematologic disorders, iatrogenic causes, or chronic liver diseases. More common hematologic disorders include thalassemia syndromes, myelodysplastic syndrome, myelofibrosis, sideroblastic anemias, sickle cell disease, or pyruvate kinase deficiency. If iron overload has been excluded, evaluation for causes of hyperferritinemia should be pursued. Causes of hyperferritinemia include chronic liver disease, malignancy, infections, kidney failure, and rheumatic conditions, such as adult-onset Still's disease or hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. In this review, we describe the diagnostic testing of patients with suspected hereditary hemochromatosis, the evaluation of patients with elevated serum ferritin levels, and signs of secondary overload and treatment options for those with secondary iron overload.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine C Hsu
- Medstar Georgetown University HospitalMedstar Georgetown Transplant InstituteWashingtonDistrict of ColumbiaUSA
| | - Nizar H Senussi
- Gastroenterology and HepatologyUniversity of New MexicoAlbuquerqueNew MexicoUSA
| | - Kleber Y Fertrin
- Division of HematologyDepartment of MedicineUniversity of WashingtonWashingtonUSA
| | - Kris V Kowdley
- Liver Institute Northwest and Elson S. Floyd College of MedicineWashington State UniversityWashingtonUSA
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Costantini S, Meloni A, Spasiano A, Cinque P, Ricchi P. The unexpected impact of cabozantinib on red blood cells consumption in patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia. Ann Hematol 2022; 101:1621-1623. [PMID: 35246730 DOI: 10.1007/s00277-022-04810-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2022] [Accepted: 02/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Silvia Costantini
- U.O.S.D. Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera Di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Via A.Cardarelli 9, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Antonella Meloni
- Department of Radiology, Fondazione G. Monasterio CNR-Regione Toscana, Pisa, Italy
| | - Anna Spasiano
- U.O.S.D. Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera Di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Via A.Cardarelli 9, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Patrizia Cinque
- U.O.S.D. Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera Di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Via A.Cardarelli 9, 80131, Naples, Italy
| | - Paolo Ricchi
- U.O.S.D. Malattie Rare del Globulo Rosso, Azienda Ospedaliera Di Rilievo Nazionale "A. Cardarelli", Via A.Cardarelli 9, 80131, Naples, Italy.
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