Iron chelating agents in clinical practice

✍ Scribed by Gavino Faa; Guido Crisponi

• Book ID: 104111942
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 136 KB
• Volume: 184
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0010-8545
• DOI: 10.1016/s0010-8545(99)00056-9

✦ Synopsis

The relevance of iron chelators in medicine has increased in recent years. Iron is essential for life but it is also potentially more toxic than other trace elements. This is due to the lack of effective means to protect human cells against iron overload and to the role of iron in the generation of free radicals. To protect patients from the consequences of iron toxicity, iron chelating agents have been introduced in clinical practice. Unfortunately, the ideal chelator for treating iron overload in humans has not been identified yet. The aim of this review is to report the experience with desferrioxamine therapy in patients affected by b-thalassemia major according to: bioavailability; mechanism of interactions with hepatocellular iron: * Corresponding author.