THE INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF GREEN TEA ON THE IRON OVERLOAD IN PATIENTS WITH MAJOR THALASSEMIA UNDER REGULAR BLOOD TRANSFUSION

Introduction: Major thalassemia is the most severe form of thalassemia, in which the life of patient necessarily depends on the regular infusion of blood. Blood transfusion in thalassemic patients has led to iron accumulation. The effect of green tea on the reduction of iron overload in animal samples has been confirmed. Green tea is also beneficial in the treatment and prevention of many diseases due to its antioxidant properties. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of green tea iron overload deficiency in patients with thalassemia. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial study was performed on 50 patients with thalassemic patients undergoing blood transfusion therapy in Zabol, Iran. The samples were randomly divided into two groups of green tea and control. At first, the demographic characteristics form was completed by patient records and the level of serum ferritin was measured before the intervention, then the patients in the intervention group received 2 grams of green tea provided by the researcher daily, three times, after each main meal for a month and after the intervention, the level of serum ferritin was measured. To measure serum ferritin, Elisa method and Tecan a-55-82 were used. Data was analyzed using SPSS software.Results: The mean serum ferritin in the green tea group decreased significantly after the intervention (p <0.05). Also, in the control group, the mean serum ferritin level increased significantly after the intervention (p <0.05) compared to before the intervention (p <0.05). There was no significant difference between the mean serum ferritin in the two groups (p = 0.109). However, there was a significant difference between the mean serum ferritin in the two groups, after the intervention (p <0.05).Conclusion: Our study provides valid evidence that green tea reduces serum ferritin in patients with major thalassemia. Therefore, with consideration of other beneficial effects of green tea, it is recommended that this tea with iron chelators to be used in thalassemic patients to reduce the iron overload. Keywords: iron overload, green tea, thalassemia, serum ferritin