BACKGROUND Recent progress in the treatment of sickle cell disease, in particular the use of hydroxyurea, has considerably modified the prognosis of this disease. Many more patients now reach reproductive age. The objective of this study was to assess the potential impact of hydroxyurea on the semen of patients. DESIGN AND METHODS In this retrospective multicenter study, we evaluated the sper...

SUMMARY Cytotoxicity of hydroxyurea has been studied in mouse epidermis and small intestine by determining the loss of thymidine-3 H-labeled DNA by both autoradiographic and biochemical methods. In the normal epidermis, hydroxyurea-induced cytotoxicity appears to be limited to some of the DNA-synthesizing cells, which are lost within 12 hr after hydroxyurea injection. Labeled cells that survive...

Hydroxyurea, a drug widely used for treating myeloproliferative diseases, has also been approved for the treatment of sickle cell disease by raising fetal hemoglobin (HbF). We have shown that nitric oxide (NO) and the soluble guanylyl cyclase (sGC) pathways are involved in hydroxyurea induction of HbF levels in erythroid progenitor cells (EPCs). We demonstrate now that during erythroid differen...

The reversal of azauridine-induced oroticaciduria by hydroxyurea has been studied to further elucidate the control mechanisms involved in the de novo pathways of pyrimidine biosynthesis. No direct effect of hydroxyurea upon partially purified aspartate transcarbamylase and dihydroorotase was observed. Hydroxyurea selectively inhibited the incorporation of 14C-labeled aspartate, orotate, and for...

Hydroxyurea can increase fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and improve the clinical course of sickle cell disease (SCD) patients. However, several issues of hydroxyurea therapy remain unresolved, including differences in patients' drug clearance, predictability of drug response, reversibility of sickle cell disease-related organ damage by hydroxyurea, and the efficacy of elevated HbF. We treated two patie...

The purpose of this evidence based practice literature review is to research the long term effects of the medication hydroxyurea on adult patients who have severe sickle cell disease and investigate if this medication improves overall health. The database utilized was CINAHL with the search parameters including: sickle cell disease, hydroxyurea, research and adults which led to the articles tha...

Macrophage-derived nitric oxide (NO) is cytostatic to tumor cells and microbial pathogens. We tested whether one molecular target for the cytostatic action of NO may be ribonucleotide reductase (RR), a rate-limiting enzyme in DNA synthesis. In a concentration-dependent manner, NO gas and lysates of activated macrophages that generated comparable amounts of NO led to the same degree of inhibitio...

Major thalassemia is one of the most common hemoglobinopathies in many Asian countries including Iran. Pharmacologic agents such as hydroxyurea have been known to enhance the production of fetal hemoglobin, and also an increase in total hemoglobin level has been repeatedly reported during hydroxyurea treatment in patients with sickle cell disease and in several patients with intermediate beta-t...

Sickle-cell anemia is a congenital hemolytic anemia characterized by sickle-shaped RBCs. The deformed RBCs become distorted and rigid and may occlude small arterioles and capillaries leading to tissue ischemia and infarction. Sickled RBCs are too fragile to withstand the trauma of circulation, and hemolysis occurs after they enter the circulation. RBCs with a high level of Hb F are resistant to...

Hydroxyurea is the only medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for sickle cell disease, and there is strong evidence to support the efficacy and the cost effectiveness of using hydroxyurea is patients with sickle cell disease by increasing fetal hemoglobin levels. It is important to clarify the relationship between patients' nutritional status/intake and fetal hemoglobin l...