-
Sickle Cell Anemia: The Impact of Discovery, Politics, and Business
- Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 24, Number 4, November 2013, Supplement
- pp. 147-158
- 10.1353/hpu.2014.0008
- Article
- Additional Information
- Purchase/rental options available:
Sickle cell anemia affects 100,000 African Americans. Frequent blood transfusions to prevent stroke lead to fatal iron-overload. Iron chelation with deferoxamine (DFO) requires expensive infusions. In the present study, we explore the feasibility of using a new delivery system for DFO, i.e., targeted liposome entrapped DFO (LDFO). Our results reveal that our novel formulation lowered the dosage requirements by 50%–75%, allowed for less frequent and shorter treatment durations, eliminating the need for a pump and the standard multi-night administration of DFO. In an iron-overloaded rat model, LDFO reduced iron in the liver, and also improved cardiac function. The lower dosage and improved safety profile makes our novel LDFO delivery system a highly desirable new therapy. Meanwhile, this system will also provide an ideal model for studying the mechanism of Fe overload-induced arrhythmias. The political and economic factors related to health care disparities are also discussed.