Deferiprone: New Insight

Abstract

Recent results from independent studies suggest that deferiprone is more cardioprotective than deferoxamine. Patients on long-term treatment with deferiprone have a better myocardial magnetic resonance imaging pattern and less chance to develop a new cardiac disease or worsen an existing one. Most of these observations are retrospective and require confirmation from randomized controlled trials. Other new observations regard the effects of combining the two chelators. Most results indicate an additional effect on iron excretion and a significant reduction of the time required to mitigate severe iron overload and to reverse clinical heart disease. Again, these data require confirmation, as they were mostly obtained on individual cases or small groups of patients treated with a wide range of combinations of the two chelators, but the univocity of results is impressive. After many years of controversy, deferiprone is emerging as a useful oral iron chelator that enhances the chances for the patient to have optimal treatment. Well-designed and -conducted studies will help in answering the questions still open.

Radiation Nephropathy is not Mitigated by Antagonists of Oxidative Stress

“…DFP was obtained from Cormedix, Inc. (Summit, NJ); it was used at 1.0 and 2.5 g/liter in the drinking water. These doses were based on data for use in humans, gerbils and rats (10); at 1.0 and 2.5 g/liter in the drinking water, the daily dose was 50 or 125 mg/kg per day, respectively. Animals were placed on DFP-containing water 3 days after TBI.…”

Copper(II)-selective chelation improves function and antioxidant defences in cardiovascular tissues of rats as a model of diabetes: comparisons between triethylenetetramine and three less copper-selective transition-metal-targeted treatments

“…In study 2, rats (n=113) were assigned to one of six groups: (1) sham (n=23); (2) STZ (n=26); (3) STZ-TETA 20 mg/day per rat (n=23) [3][4][5]; (4) STZ-Def (ACROS, Geel, Belgium; 20 mg/day per rat, n=15) [11,12]; (5) STZPen (Sigma; St. Louis, MO, USA; 6 mg/day per rat, n=15) [2,8]; and (6) STZ-ZnA (Sigma; 0.5 mg day −1 rat −1 , n=11) [9,10]. A spot urine sample was collected from the bladder of each rat immediately before final tissue collection.…”

“…Other compounds that are also used for the treatment of this disease include Dpenicillamine (Pen, a less specific transition-metal chelator) [2,8] and Zn acetate (ZnA, a blocker of enteric Cu absorption) [9,10]. Deferiprone (Def), an orally active Fe chelator that also binds Cu, has also been proposed for this purpose [11,12]. Whether these compounds might cause similar biochemical changes and improve cardiac and renal function, as TETA does in diabetic rats, remains to be determined.…”

Fatal agranulocytosis after deferiprone therapy in a child with Diamond-Blackfan anemia

“…1,5 In addition to the widely accepted chelation therapy with deferoxamine, oral chelating substances are now available, such as deferiprone and deferasirox, which are reported to be beneficial alone or in combination with deferoxamine. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12] These studies have been facilitated by the T2* magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. 8,13 Most drugs have side effects ,and it is important to be aware of them and their potential severity to properly weight pros and cons.…”