Abstract

AN IMMUNOLOGICAL EVALUATION AND STUDY OF DYSBIOSIS ASSOCIATED WITH THALASSEMIC PATIENTS IN BABYLON PROVINCE

Intisar Noori Dawood Alsaluki, Dr. Ifad Kerim Abd Alshibly* and Dr. Muder Hassen Noor

Abstract

Thalassemia is one of the most common genetic diseases in the world and it is a major health problem. It is among the most common genetic disorders worldwide, occurring more frequently in the Mediterranean, Indian subcontinent, Africa and south East-Asia. In Iraq, thalassemia is a major health probl em with prevalence of carrier range from 4.4%- 6.66%. Throughout the past century, there have been an emergence of a large number of diseases, including thalassemia, many of which have been recently associated with intestinal dysbiosis - that is, compositional and functional alterations of the gut microbiome. Dysbiosis may be responsible for a shift in the homeostatic healthy flora to detrimental proinflammatory microbial species, which can later predispose to intestinal inflammation and can drive an autoimmune disease – in particular, a non-gut autoimmune disorder. This study aimed at identifying a possible link between disturbed gut microbiota and the immunological status of patients with thalassemia in Babylon province. Eighty-eight children & adolecents were enrolled in this case – control study. Blood & stool samples were taken from all subjects in the study for biochemical, immunological & microbiological (bacteriological) studies. After demographic data analysis, results presented in the current study established a correlation between the frequency of blood transfusion and acquisition of hepatitis C. also, in the present study bacterial microbiota was assessed among the study groups to reveal a hypothetical association between disturbed microbiota and the immunological status among patients with thalassemia. Results got in our study stated that, there was a significant positive correlation between the distribution of gram negative bacteria (E coli, Klebsiella and Enterobacter) in stool samples of thalassemic patients than controls.

Keywords: thalassemia, microbiota, immune disturbance.