Investigation of Some Endogenous Antimicrobial Peptides in Thalassemia

The aim of this work was a comparative study of the amount of antimicrobial peptides—human neutrophil peptides—defensins (HNP), hepcidin, bactericidal/permeability-increasing protein (BPI), and endotoxin in β-thalassemia. Blood samples of 135 patients with thalassemia were investigated. All patients were divided into 3 groups. The first group included patients with heterozygous form (n = 45). The second group consisted of patients with homozygous form before splenectomy (n = 45). The third group included patients with homozygous form after splenectomy (n = 45). The age of patients varied from 2 to 18 years. Biochemical [unconjugated and conjugated bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, hemoglobin, ferritin, aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), mean corpuscular volume (MCV)] and immune (IgA, IgM, IgG, phagocytic activity) parameters were defined. Obtained results suggest that increased levels of endogenous antimicrobial peptides are associated with the development of the infectious process and reflect the dynamics of changes in biochemical parameters and immune status.