Pentraxin-3 Levels in Β-thalassemia Major and its Relationship with Antioxidant Capacity and Total Oxidant Stress

Objectives : To evaluate pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) levels in pediatric patients with b -thalassemia major, intermedia, and minor and its relationship with antioxidant capacity and total oxidant stress. Background : PTX-3 increases alongside with oxidant stress. Therefore, it can be used as an early diagnostic marker for in fl ammation. Patients and methods : A case e control study was conducted on 60 pediatric patients with b -thalassemia enrolled from the Pediatric Department of Menou fi a University. In addition, 30 age-matched and sex-matched healthy children were included as a control group. The study was performed during January 2020 to January 2022. Results : PTX-3 level was higher in all patients with b -thalassemia compared with control. The total antioxidant capacity was signi fi cantly lower in patients with b -thalassemia major versus b -thalassemia intermedia and minor. The cutoff value to detect b -thalassemia major in pediatric patients was 2.15 ng/ml, with an area under the curve of 0.846, with sensitivity and speci fi city of 93.3 and 63.3%, respectively. Moreover, the cutoff value for total antioxidant capacity was 2.11 nmol/well, with area under the curve of 0.695, with sensitivity and speci fi city of 86.5 and 71.5%, respectively, in relation to serum ferritin for detection of risky oxidative stress in patients with b -thalassemia. Conclusion : PTX-3 level was higher in all b -thalassemia groups compared to control. So it could be used as a marker for b -thalassemia diagnosis. Moreover, total antioxidant capacity was signi fi cantly lower in patients with b -thalassemia major versus b -thalassemia intermedia and minor, which could be used as a speci fi c test for differentiation.