Effect of vitamin E supplementation on inflammatory markers in patients with Thalassemia intermedia at Siriraj hospital

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of vitamin E supplementation on inflammatory markers in patients with thalassemia intermedia who do not required regular blood transfusion at Siriraj hospital. There were 31 patients aged 5 - 19 years participating in this study. They were divided into 2 groups: the vitamin E group (supplemented with vitamin E at dose of 10 IU/kg/d, n = 16) and the control group (no vitamin E supplementation, n = 15). The duration of the study was 12 weeks. The patients received growth, nutritional and dietary intake assessments. In addition, their blood samples were collected for determining levels of plasma inflammatory markers (tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP)), serum vitamin E, and complete blood count (CBC) at baseline and at the end of the study (week 12). The results of the study showed that at the baseline, no correlations between level of serum vitamin E and inflammatory markers including TNF-α and hs-CRP were found. However, there was a positive correlation between serum vitamin E levels and red blood cell (r = 0.503, p = 0.002). After the patients were assigned into the vitamin E and the control groups, there were no significant differences in demographic characteristics, biological and hematological variables including plasma TNF-α and hs-CRP levels, serum vitamin E levels, and CBC between the patients in both groups. After 12 weeks of the study, serum vitamin E concentrations in the patients supplemented with vitamin E were significantly increased from their baselines (p < 0.001). However, plasma TNF-α and hs-CRP levels of the patients in both groups did not change from the baseline after vitamin E supplementation. It was found that total energy intake of the patients in the vitamin E group at week 12 were significantly increased from baseline (p = 0.037) and that amount was significantly greater than that in the control group (p = 0.008). Moreover, it was found that after vitamin E supplementation, weight and body mass index of some patients were improved to the better categories. This study revealed that vitamin E supplementation did not affect the levels of TNF-α and hs-CRP in patients with thalassemia intermedia. However, it may be beneficial in ameliorating vitamin E levels of these patients to the normal range and increasing total energy intake from the diet.