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Gibson SMP, Hunter TA, Charles PE, Morgan MAC, Griffith-Anderson SKR, Cruickshank JK, Gossell-Williams MD, Johnson NA. Current obstetric outcomes in Jamaican women with sickle hemoglobinopathy - a balance of risks for aspirin? J Perinat Med 2024; 52:485-493. [PMID: 38629833 DOI: 10.1515/jpm-2023-0378] [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: 09/12/2023] [Accepted: 02/29/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Sickle cell disease (SCD) occurs in 2.8 % of our Jamaican antenatal population with homozygous HbSS being most associated with adverse maternal and perinatal outcomes. METHODS A retrospective comparative analysis of HbSS, HbSC and HbSβThal pregnancy outcomes at the University Hospital of the West Indies (UHWI) between January 2012 and December 2022 was conducted. RESULTS Of 120 patients (138 pregnancies), obesity occurred in 36 % (20/56) of the 'non-HbSS' group, i.e. HbSβThal (55 %, 5/9) and HbSC (32 %, 15/47) combined vs. 9.7 % of the HbSS (8/82). HbSS patients had more crises requiring transfusions, acute chest syndrome (ACS), maternal 'near-misses' (OR=10.7, 95 % 3.5-32.3; p<0.001), hospitalizations (OR 7.6, 95 % CI 3.4-16.9; p<0.001), low birth weight (LBW) neonates (OR 3.1, 1.1-8.9; p=0.037) and preterm birth (OR=2.6, 1.2-5.8; p=0.018) compared to HbSC and HbSβThal. Low dose aspirin was prescribed in 43 %. Logistic regression showed those NOT on aspirin (n=76) had more miscarriages (22 v. 2 %), were LESS likely to have a live birth (75 v. 95 % (0.2, 0.04-0.57, p=0.005)), but surprisingly had fewer painful crises (28 v. 46 % (0.5, 0.03-0.9, p=0.03)). CONCLUSIONS HbSS women had a 10-fold excess of maternal near-misses. Additional research may further clarify the effects of aspirin on pregnancy outcomes as related to SCD genotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanea M P Gibson
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 233759 University Hospital of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
| | - Tiffany A Hunter
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 233759 University Hospital of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 62707 University of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
| | - Phillip E Charles
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 233759 University Hospital of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 62707 University of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
| | - Melonie A C Morgan
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 62707 University of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
| | - Shari K R Griffith-Anderson
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 233759 University Hospital of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 62707 University of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
| | | | | | - Nadine A Johnson
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 233759 University Hospital of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 62707 University of the West Indies , Mona, Jamaica
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Gonzalez Sepulveda JM, Yang JC, Reed SD, Lee TH, Ng X, Stothers S, Irony T, Ho M, Rothman JA, Badawy S, Rowley C, Little J, Shah NR, Li K, Telen MJ. Preferences for potential benefits and risks for gene therapy in the treatment of sickle cell disease. Blood Adv 2023; 7:7371-7381. [PMID: 37905989 PMCID: PMC10726244 DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023009680] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Revised: 08/29/2023] [Accepted: 08/29/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Objective of this study is to quantify benefit-risk tradeoffs pertaining to potential gene therapies among adults and parents/caregivers of children with sickle cell disease (SCD). A discrete-choice experiment survey was developed in which respondents selected their preferred treatment alternatives in a series of experimentally controlled pairs of hypothetical gene therapies and a "no gene therapy" option. Gene therapy alternatives were defined based on the chance of eliminating SCD symptoms, expected increases in life expectancy they could offer, treatment-related risk of death, and potential increases in lifetime cancer risk. Respondents made selections based on their current disease severity and in the context of expectations of worsened disease. Three clinical sites and 1 patient organization recruited 174 adult patients and 109 parents of children with SCD to complete the survey. Adult and parent respondents were generally willing to choose gene therapies, but the adults required higher expected levels of efficacy (ie, higher chance of eliminating symptoms) than parents to choose gene therapies that conferred mortality risks of ≥10%. When adults and parents of children with less severe symptoms were asked to consider scenarios of higher levels of disease severity, the increased risk tolerance, and the lowest acceptable level of efficacy for gene therapies with mortality risks dropped by >50%. Baseline SCD symptoms are a major driver of gene therapy acceptability. Adults and parents of patients with milder symptoms may prefer other treatment options; however, an expectation of symptoms deterioration triggers strong reassessment of the acceptable benefit-risk balance of this novel technology.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Ting-Hsuan Lee
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Biostatistics and Pharmacovigilance, US Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD
| | - Xinyi Ng
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Biostatistics and Pharmacovigilance, US Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD
| | - Sarah Stothers
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Biostatistics and Pharmacovigilance, US Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD
| | - Telba Irony
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Biostatistics and Pharmacovigilance, US Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD
- Janssen Research & Development, Raritan, NJ
| | - Martin Ho
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Office of Biostatistics and Pharmacovigilance, US Food and Drug Administration, Rockville, MD
- Pfizer, New York, NY
| | | | | | | | - Jane Little
- Division of Hematology, The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
| | | | - Kaiwen Li
- Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC
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Walker AL, Crosby D, Miller V, Weidert F, Ofori-Acquah S. Hydroxyurea Decouples Persistent F-Cell Elevation and Induction of γ-Globin. Exp Hematol 2022; 112-113:15-23.e1. [PMID: 35843392 DOI: 10.1016/j.exphem.2022.07.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Revised: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Mechanisms that control the fetal-to-adult hemoglobin switch are attractive therapeutic targets in sickle cell disease. In this study, we investigated developmental γ-globin silencing in the Townes humanized knock-in mouse model, which harbors a construct containing the human γ-, βA-, and βS-globin genes, and examined the utility of this model in evaluation of pharmacologic induction of fetal hemoglobin (HbF). We studied mouse pups on the day of delivery (P0) to 28 days after birth (P28). Regardless of the hemoglobin genotype (SS, AS, or AA), the proportion of F cells in peripheral blood was 100% at P0, declined sharply to 20% at P2, and was virtually undetectable at P14. Developmental γ-globin silencing in Townes mice was complete at P4 in association with significantly increased BCL11A expression in the primary erythropoietic organs of the mouse. Hydroxyurea given at P2 significantly sustained elevated percentages of F cells in mice at P14. However, the percentage of F cells declined at P14 for treatment begun at P4. A lack of augmentation of γ-globin mRNA in erythroid tissues suggests that the apparent increase in HbF in red cells caused by hydroxyurea was not due to sustained or re-activation of γ-globin transcription, but was instead a function of erythropoiesis suppression. Thus, we provide new details of the hemoglobin switch in the Townes murine model that recapitulates postnatal γ- to β-globin switch in humans and identify the myelosuppressive toxicity of hydroxyurea as a superseding factor in interpreting pharmacologic induction of HbF.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aisha L Walker
- Pittsburgh Heart Blood and Lung Vascular Medicine Institute, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; Department of Pediatrics, Emory University, Atlanta, GA.
| | - Danielle Crosby
- Pittsburgh Heart Blood and Lung Vascular Medicine Institute, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Valerie Miller
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA
| | - Frances Weidert
- Department of Neurosurgery, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
| | - Solomon Ofori-Acquah
- Pittsburgh Heart Blood and Lung Vascular Medicine Institute, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA; School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, Accra, Ghana
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Shah N, Krishnamurti L. Evidence-Based Minireview: In young children with severe sickle cell disease, do the benefits of HLA-identical sibling donor HCT outweigh the risks? HEMATOLOGY. AMERICAN SOCIETY OF HEMATOLOGY. EDUCATION PROGRAM 2021; 2021:190-195. [PMID: 34889371 PMCID: PMC8791135 DOI: 10.1182/hematology.2021000322] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
In case 1, a 14-month-old male child with sickle cell disease (SCD) was referred for evaluation for an allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT). The patient had a history of dactylitis 3 times in his first year of life and febrile episodes twice at the consult. His 4-year-old sister was found to be human leukocyte antigen (HLA) identical. The patient was started on hydroxyurea (HU) at 2.5 years of age. His parents again sought consultation when he was 5 years old because of concerns about his medical condition. At the time, the patient had experienced 2 vaso-occlusive pain episodes (VOEs) requiring hospitalization during the previous 2 years. He had also experienced intermittent pain crises requiring rest at home for 2 to 3 days. The child has not attended school in person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The family is considering HCT but is ambivalent about it because of potential toxicity. In case 2, an 8-year-old female child is 3 years out from HCT for SCD from her HLA-identical sibling. Before HCT, despite receiving HU, she had experienced >5 VOEs requiring hospitalization and 2 episodes of acute chest syndromes in the previous 3 years. She had also been missing almost 50 days of school days each year. After HCT, she is now attending school regularly and participating in all normal age-appropriate activities. The parents believe that HCT has been transformative in their child's life.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niketa Shah
- Section of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
| | - Lakshmanan Krishnamurti
- Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
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Daar S, Al Saadoon M, Wali Y, Al Mujaini R, Al Rahbi S, Chan MF, Al-Siyabi A, Alansary N, Mahadevan S, Al-Adawi S. Cognitive Function in Adults with Beta-Thalassemia Major in Oman: A Pilot Study. Oman Med J 2021; 36:e322. [PMID: 34868668 PMCID: PMC8630422 DOI: 10.5001/omj.2021.101] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2020] [Accepted: 01/09/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Objectives Neurocognitive dysfunction has been established in several studies in children with beta-thalassemia major (TM). However, despite its wide occurrence in populations across the Arabian Peninsula, scant attention has been paid to shedding light on neuropsychological functioning among adults with TM. This study aimed to examine the level of neuropsychological functioning among Omani adults with TM regularly followed-up at a tertiary care hospital in Oman. A related aim was to examine the factors associated with neuropsychological performance. Methods Standard neuropsychological tests were used to measure attention and concentration, learning and remembering, verbal fluency, and executive functioning. Participants were also gauged on indices of intellectual ability and affective range. As normative data for neuropsychological functioning in Oman is scarce, healthy age- and sex-matched controls underwent the same testing procedure. The log-linear model was used to identify factors associated with TM patients on demographic and neuropsychological performance. Results This study recruited 28 adult patients with TM (age 30.0±6.5) and 39 healthy controls (age 29.2±6.1). Findings suggested that having a diagnosis of TM was significantly associated with symptoms of depression (p < 0.001) and anxiety (p < 0.001), indices of executive functioning (verbal fluency) (p =0.003), working memory (digit span) (p < 0.001), and verbal and auditory attention scores (California Verbal Learning, p = 0.002). Conclusions The data appears to suggest that short-term memory capacity, verbal fluency, and verbal and auditory attention may be impaired in TM compared to controls. Studies on a larger cohort are therefore warranted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahina Daar
- Department of Hematology, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman.,Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
| | - Muna Al Saadoon
- Department of Child Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
| | - Yasser Wali
- Department of Child Health, Pediatric Hematology, Oncology and Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant Unit, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman
| | - Rawan Al Mujaini
- Department of Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
| | - Sarah Al Rahbi
- Department of Hematology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman
| | - Moon Fai Chan
- Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
| | - Alya Al-Siyabi
- Department of Child Health, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman
| | - Niveen Alansary
- Department of Hematology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman
| | - Sangeetha Mahadevan
- Department of Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
| | - Samir Al-Adawi
- Department of Behavioral Medicine, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
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HSCT remains the only cure for patients with transfusion-dependent thalassemia until gene therapy strategies are proven to be safe. Bone Marrow Transplant 2021; 56:2882-2888. [PMID: 34531544 DOI: 10.1038/s41409-021-01461-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2021] [Revised: 08/23/2021] [Accepted: 09/01/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Patients with β-thalassemia suffer from severe anemia, iron overload and multiple complications, that affect their quality of life and well-being. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from an HLA-matched sibling donor, performed in childhood, has been the gold standard for thalassemic patients for decades. Unfortunately, siblings are available only for the minority of patients. Fully matched unrelated donors have been the second choice for cure, with equal results as far as overall survival is concerned, having though the cost of frequent and serious complications. On the other hand, haploidentical transplantation is performed more frequently during the last decade, with promising results. Gene therapy represents a novel therapeutic approach, with impressive results from clinical trials, both from gene addition strategies, as well as from the emerging gene editing tools. After reviewing current critical points of HSCT using alternative donors and assessing recently reported safety issues of gene therapy methods, we conclude that, although a breakthrough, the safety of gene therapy remains to be established.
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Salinas Cisneros G, Thein SL. Research in Sickle Cell Disease: From Bedside to Bench to Bedside. Hemasphere 2021; 5:e584. [PMID: 34095767 PMCID: PMC8171370 DOI: 10.1097/hs9.0000000000000584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an exemplar of bidirectional translational research, starting with a remarkable astute observation of the abnormally shaped red blood cells that motivated decades of bench research that have now translated into new drugs and genetic therapies. Introduction of hydroxyurea (HU) therapy, the only SCD-modifying treatment for >30 years and now standard care, was initiated through another clinical observation by a pediatrician. While the clinical efficacy of HU is primarily due to its fetal hemoglobin (HbF) induction, the exact mechanism of how it increases HbF remains not fully understood. Unraveling of the molecular mechanism of how HU increases HbF has provided insights on the development of new HbF-reactivating agents in the pipeline. HU has other salutary effects, reduction of cellular adhesion to the vascular endothelium and inflammation, and dissecting these mechanisms has informed bench-both cellular and animal-research for development of the 3 recently approved agents: endari, voxelotor, and crizanlizumab; truly, a bidirectional bench to bedside translation. Decades of research to understand the mechanisms of fetal to adult hemoglobin have also culminated in promising anti-sickling genetic therapies and the first-in-human studies of reactivating an endogenous (γ-globin) gene HBG utilizing innovative genomic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel Salinas Cisneros
- Sickle Cell Branch, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
- Division of Hematology and Oncology, Children’s National Medical Center, Washington, District of Columbia, USA
| | - Swee Lay Thein
- Sickle Cell Branch, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
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Abstract
PURPOSE OF REVIEW Small amounts of fetal hemoglobin can be expressed in a subset of adult red blood cells called F-cells. This review examines the potential mechanisms and clinical implications of the heterogeneity of fetal hemoglobin expression. RECENT FINDINGS Although the heterocellular nature of fetal hemoglobin expression in adult red blood cells has been noted for over 70 years, the molecular basis of this phenomenon has been unclear. Recent discoveries of novel regulators of fetal hemoglobin as well as technological advances have shed new light on these cells. SUMMARY Fetal hemoglobin reactivation in adult red blood cells through genetic or pharmacological approaches can involve both increasing the number of F-cells and cellular fetal hemoglobin content. New technologies enable the study and eventually the improvement of these parameters in patients with sickle cell disease and β-thalassemia.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eugene Khandros
- Division of Hematology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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Curative vs targeted therapy for SCD: does it make more sense to address the root cause than target downstream events? Blood Adv 2020; 4:3457-3465. [PMID: 32722787 DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2020001469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Sickle cell disease (SCD) places a heavy burden on a global and increasing population predominantly resident in resource-poor and developing countries. Progress continues to be made in preventing childhood mortality, and increasing numbers of chronically ill adults with disease are requiring care for disease sequelae. Curative therapies for SCD are therefore attractive to physicians and investigators focused on SCD. Gene therapies are being developed, and several are now in various stages of early-phase human clinical trials. However, we must also pursue avenues through which we can do the most good for the most people alive today. Such efforts include improving our understanding of disease mechanisms and which disease sequelae most strongly affect survival and interfere with quality of life. The pathways leading to disease sequelae are multiple, complex, and highly interactive. Four drugs have now been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for SCD; however, each has a distinct mechanism and a measurable but limited effect on the many clinical sequelae of SCD. We therefore need to learn how to approach multi-agent therapy for SCD. The order of addition of each agent to treat a specific patient will need to be guided by response to previous therapy, risk factors identified for specific disease outcomes, and clinical studies to determine more comprehensively how the 4 currently approved drugs might interact and produce (or not) additive effects. Moreover, this will have to be accomplished with defined end points in mind, according to which pose the greatest threats to quality of life as well as survival.
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