The Potential Hepatoprotective Effect of Metformin in Patients With Beta Thalassemia Major
Status:
Unknown status
Trial end date:
2019-04-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Beta Thalassemia is a major public health problem in Mediterranean countries.In Egypt, it is
considered as the most common chronic hemolytic anemia.one of the major complications in this
inherited disorder is iron overload which lead to oxidative stress and tissue damage.
Regarding toxic effect of iron overload on liver, hepatomegaly is one of the most findings
that resulting from hemosiderosis, extra medullary hematopoiesis, transmitted hepatitis B and
C and cirrhosis.
A lot of studies have been carried out recently to study the beneficial role of metformin in
non-diabetic patients of different disorders as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
(NAFLD).Among several studies, it's demonstrated that metformin significantly improved
insulin resistance, aminotransferase levels and liver morphology.
The role of metformin in these studies is mainly thought to be antioxidant and
anti-inflammatory effects. However, the role of Metformin on hepatic function in different
populations with the same mechanism of liver injury should be further investigated.
This clinical trial will be carried out on 60 patients with beta thalassemia major receiving
regular blood transfusion and iron chelating therapy, either HCV positive or negative
patients.
They will be randomly distributed into either control group (group 1, n=30) receiving blood
transfusion and taking iron chelating therapy or treatment group (group 2, n=30) receiving
blood transfusion and taking iron chelating therapy along with metformin tablets (500
mg/twice daily) for 6 months.