Abstract:
The presence of toxic non-transferrin bound iron (NTBI) in blood and its accumulation in tissues lead to permanent organ damage in hematological disorders such as β-thalassemia and hemochromatosis. This fraction of iron needs regular monitoring. Therefore, to diagnose iron overload in patients, a simple, direct, highly sensitive, selective and accurate fluorescent based assay of NTBI is developed. The assay utilizes the fluorescent property of peptidic siderophore isolated and purified from bacterial culture. The clinical study carried on 100 thalassemic patients showed satisfactory results, suggesting a broad clinical application of the developed assay in both diagnosis and validation of treatment regimens.