The major function of human transferrin is to deliver iron from the bloodstream to actively dividing cells. Upon iron release, the protein changes its conformation from 'closed' to 'open'. Extensive studies in vitro indicate that iron release from transferrin is very complex and involves many factors, including pH, the chelator used, an anion effect, temperature, receptor binding and intra-lobe...

The effectiveness of N,N'-bis[2-hydroxybenzyl]-ethylene-diamine-N,N'-diacetic acid (HBED) in removing radioiron introduced into the parenchymal cells of mouse liver as 59Fe-ferritin has been investigated. The effectiveness of HBED, an iron chelator of low water solubility, has also been compared with that of desferrioxamine (DF), an iron chelator of high water solubility and currently in clinic...

The effects of prolonged treatment with iron chelator (desferrioxamine) on the development of infection in mice inoculated with Y Trypanosoma cruzi were determined. Infected/treated mice presented lower levels of parasitemia and reduced mortality rate compared with infected/non-treated animals. The five out of twenty infected/treated mice that survived the acute phase of infection showed negati...

iron chelation therapy is used to reduce iron overload development due to its deposition in various organs such as liver and heart after regular transfusion. in this review, different iron chelators implicated in treatment of iron overload in various clinical conditions have been evaluated using more up-to-date studies focusing on these therapeutic agents. deferoxamine, deferiprone and deferasi...

Red blood cells (RBCs) from patients with sickle cell anemia and thalassemia carry abnormal accumulations of molecular Fe(III) at the cytosol/membrane interface. The avidity of the red cell membrane for this iron has not been defined. Using open ghost membranes prepared from sickle RBC, we examined the ability of membrane-associated Fe(III) to resist removal by 15 chelators representing a 40-lo...

Dear Editor-in-Chief, We shortly report our results of combined iron chelation therapy with deferiprone (DFP) and desferrioxamine (DFX) versus chelation therapy with DFP alone, in iron overloaded β-thalassemia patients. Desferrioxamine has been a life saving iron chelator for thousands of patients in the last 40 years. However, less than 10% of the patients requiring iron chelation therapy worl...

Chronically transfused patients develop iron overload that leads to organ damage and ultimately to death. The introduction of the iron-chelating agent, desferrioxamine mesylate, dramatically improved the life expectancy of these patients. However, the very demanding nature of this treatment (subcutaneous continuous infusion via a battery-operated portable pump) has been the motivation for attem...

A major consideration in the selection of new and improved iron chelators for clinical use is preferential interaction with the most toxic iron compartment. We describe the biologic properties of a new synthetic hexadentate iron chelator (IRC011) that is a substituted polyaza compound. Unlike deferoxamine (DF ), the polyaza structure of IRC011 does not contain any readily hydrolyzable covalent ...

background: iron chelators are an important part of management of patients with thalassemia. it is prudent to compare efficacy of different iron chelators in treatment of iron overload in these patients who receive regular blood transfusion. we aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of available oral iron chelator; deferasirox (exjade®) with deferasirox (osveral®) in reducing iron overload in...

Intracellular free iron of Escherichia coli was determined by whole-cell electron paramagnetic resonance spectrometry. Ultrahigh pressure (UHP) increased both intracellular free iron and cell lethality in a pressure-dose-dependent manner. The iron chelator 2,2'-dipyridyl protected cells against UHP treatments. A mutation that produced iron overload conditions sensitized E. coli to UHP treatment.