Effect of vitamin E supplementation on oxidative stress in red blood cells of patients with Thalassemia intermedia at Siriraj Hospital

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of vitamin E supplementation on oxidative stress in red blood cells (RBC) of the patients with thalassemia intermedia who did not require regular blood transfusion therapy at Siriraj Hospital. There were 17 subjects, aged between 5-20 years, participating in this study. They were assigned into 2 groups: the vitamin E group (supplemented with 10 IU/kg/day of vitamin E) and the control group (no vitamin E supplementation). Evaluations of anthropometric parameters, complete blood count (CBC), serum vitamin E and plasma malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, hemolysis, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in RBC were performed at before (week 0) and at the end of the study (week 12). Antioxidative mechanism of vitamin E in RBC was also examined. The results showed that there were no significant differences in anthropometric, CBC, serum vitamin E levels, and plasma MDA between the vitamin E and control groups at baseline. However, at the end of the study, the subjects in the vitamin E group had significantly increased serum vitamin E levels (p < 0.001) and significantly decreased plasma MDA levels (p = 0.027), compared to baseline, and these levels significantly differed from those in the control group (p = 0.017). No significant differences were found within group for the ROS production in erythrocytes in both groups. In vitamin E group, the percent hemolysis were significantly decreased as compared to baseline (p = 0.001) after vitamin E supplementation. In this study, vitamin E was able to inhibit ROS production including superoxide anion, hydrogen peroxide and hydroxyl radical in erythrocytes. The results indicated that vitamin E supplementation in thalassemia intermedia patients may benefit these patients in delaying disease progression and preventing complications caused by oxidative stress.