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The effect of quercetin on iron overload and inflammation in β-thalassemia major patients: A double-blind randomized clinical trial

Zohreh Sajadi Hezaveh, A. Azarkeivan, L. Janani, S. Hosseini, F. Shidfar

Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2019

42 participants · 60 citations

Abstract

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to determine whether quercetin can reduce iron overload and inflammation in thalassemic patients.

METHODS

Eighty four patients were recruited to this study and randomly assigned to two groups: 42 patients received a 500 mg/day quercetin tablet and 42 others took a 500 mg/day starch placebo for 12 weeks. Demographic, anthropometric and biochemical evaluation were performed.

RESULTS

ANCOVA analysis revealed that compared to the control group, quercetin could reduce high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (P = 0.046), iron (p = 0.036), ferritin (p = 0.043), and transferrin saturation (TS) (p = 0.008) and increase transferrin (p = 0.045) significantly, but it had no significant effect on total iron binding capacity (TIBC) (p = 0.734) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) (p = 0.310).

CONCLUSIONS

Quercetin could ameliorate the iron status in thalassemia major, but its effect on inflammation is indistinctive.

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 42 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

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