Leukocyte Apoptosis and Mitochondrial Dysfunction in β-Thalassemia Patients Treated with Deferasirox or Deferoxamine.

Iron overload has been shown to increase mitochondrial dysfunction and apoptosis and may be implicated in leukocyte apoptosis. We assessed whether markers of leukocyte apoptosis and mitochondrial dysfunction are higher in iron-overloaded thalassemia patients compared with control subjects and whether improvement in the control of iron overload with deferasirox or deferoxamine (DFO) is associated with a change in the level of apoptotic markers.