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Vitamin C as an adjuvant therapy possibly potentiates the efficacy of DFO more than DFP and DFX in reducing iron burden in the moderately iron-overloaded vitamin C-deficient patients with β-TM, with no adverse events.

Diabetic neuropathy (DN) is the highly occurred complication of diabetes mellitus; it has been defined as an event of peripheral nerve dysfunction characterized by pain, allodynia, hyperalgesia, and paraesthesia. The current study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) in the management of neuropathy in diabetic rats. The used animals were divided into the following groups: negative control, streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, and diabetic rats with peripheral neuropathy (DNP) and DNP treated with gabapentin or with LLLT. Behavioral tests were carried out through hotplate test for the determination of pain sensations and the Morris water maze test for spatial reference memory evaluation. Blood samples were collected at the end of treatment for biochemical determinations. In the current study, the latency of hind-paw lick decreased significantly when DNP are treated with gabapentin or LLLT. The Morris water maze test showed that LLLT treatment improved memory that deteriorated in DNP more than gabapentin do. The results of the biochemical study revealed that LLLT could not affect the level of beta-endorphin that decreased in DNP but significantly decreased S100B that rose in DNP. PGE2 and cytokines IL-1β, IL-10, and TNF-α showed significant increase in DNP compared with control group. The gabapentin administration or LLLT application significantly reversed the levels of the mentioned markers towards the normal values of the controls. Levels of serum MDA and nitric oxide increased significantly in the DNP but rGSH showed significant decrease. These markers were improved significantly when the DNP were treated with gabapentin or LLLT. The treatment with gabapentin or LLLT significantly decreased the raised level in total cholesterol in DNP but could not decrease the elevated level of triglycerides, while LDL cholesterol decreased significantly in DNP treated with gabapentin but not affected by LLLT. Values of serum alanine aminotransferase (ALAT), aspartate aminotransferase (ASAT), urea, and creatinine increased significantly in the DPN and diabetic rats without peripheral neuropathy (PN) compared with control group. The treatment of DNP with gabapentin induced significant increases in ALAT and ASAT activities but LLLT treatment induced significant decreases in ALAT and ASAT activities as compared with DNP group. Neither gabapentin nor LLLT could improve the elevated levels of serum urea and creatinine in the DNP. It could be concluded that LLLT is more safe and effective than gabapentin in the management of neuropathy in diabetic rats.

Background: Treatment with antioxidants may neutralize the deleterious effects of oxidative damage by reactive oxygen species generated from labile plasma iron. Vitamin C has been known to increase the efficacy of desforaxamine (DFO). Few studies examined the influence of vitamin C supplementation in iron overloaded β-thalassemia major (β-TM) patients with oral chelators. Aim: To determine the beneficial effects of Vitamin C as an adjuvant to iron chelators in children and adolescents with β-TM and its relation to tissue iron overload. Methods: A randomized prospective study registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02083575) included 100 patients with β-TM recruited from the regular attendees of Thalassemia center. Inclusion criteria were β-TM patients 2-18 years with serum ferritin (SF) >1000-2500 ng/ml on regular transfusion-chelation therapy receiving the standard doses of Desferrioxamine (DFO), deferiprone (DFP), deferasirox (DFX) in a ratio1:1:1. All the enrolled patients had vitamin C deficiency. Exclusion criteria included patients suffered from insulin-dependent diabetes, clinical cardiac and/or advanced liver disease. The thalassemia patients received vitamin C in a dose of 100 mg daily. Patients were followed-up for 6 months with assessment of transfusion frequency and index, complete blood count, vitamin C levels, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), SF and transferrin saturation (Tsat), liver iron content (LIC) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging T2* before and after therapy were assessed. Results: Laboratory variables at baseline were similarly distributed among patients receiving different iron chelating agents. Upon comparing baseline and post-therapy clinical and laboratory variables among the studied β-thalassemia patients; transfusion index was significantly decreased after 6 months of vitamin C therapy (p=0.03) and the number of transfused patients <3 weeks dropped from 66% to 57% although the difference did not reach a significant level. Hemoglobin level improved (p<0.01). SF, Tsat and LIC were significantly lower after treatment than baseline levels (p=0.048, p<0.01 and p=0.035, respectively). Cardiac MRI T2* and vitamin C levels increased 6 months after treatment (p=0.025 and p<0.001, respectively). Vitamin C supplementation to patients receiving DFO had significantly lowest transfusion index (p=0.035) with significant improvement in hemoglobin level and cardiac MRI T2* as well as decreased SF, Tsat and LIC (p<0.01). Patients on DFP or DFX showed non-significant improvement in hematological and radiological variables. Vitamin C level was negatively correlated to transfusion index, SF and LIC (p<0.01). Neither serious adverse reactions related to the chelators nor to Vitamin C administration have been reported. Conclusions: Vitamin C in a dose of 100 mg, as an adjuvant therapeutic agent increased the efficacy of DFO in reducing iron burden in the moderately iron overloaded B-TM with vitamin C deficiency; it showed marginal improvement with DFP and DFX. Higher doses of vitamin C therapy might be tried with evaluation of possible additional adverse events. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

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