Background: β thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder that needs repeated blood transfusions. Serum lipid abnormalities have been repeatedly reported in these patients. Although thalassemia is common in some regions of Iran, there is little evidence on serum lipids and lipoproteins profile in these patients.�The aim of this study was to evaluate plasma lipids and lipoproteins in thalassemic patients referring to Yazd Blood Transfusion Center.

Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional case-control study, serum lipids, lipoproteins and lipoprotein(a) from 58 patients (32 females, 26 males) with β thalassemia major, were compared to 68 (40 females, 28 males) age matched healthy control. Blood samples were taken after at least 12 hours fasting and before the patients' blood transfusion. Total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), and high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C), were determined enzymatically using laboratory test kits. Lipoprotein (a) assay was done by electro-immunoassay method. SPSS software (V.11), t-test and U-test were used to compare lipids, lipoprotein, and lipoprotein (a) and Pearson correlation test was used to determine the correlation between variables.

Results: β thalassemic patients had significantly lower TC, HDL-C and LDL-C values compared to the control (113.8±17.7, 32.3±8, 58.2±14.7 vs 158.3±30.6, 43.8±9.2, 96.2±26.4, p<0.001), while serum TG and lipoprotein(a) levels had no significance difference in two groups. Nineteen percents of patients and 27% of controls had serum lipoprotein (a) levels equal to or higher than 30 mg/dl. There was no significant correlation between lipids, lipoproteins and age in two groups, however in control group a significant correlation was seen (r = 0.5, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The results indicate that in patients with β thalassemia major, cholesterol and its carrier lipoproteins are lower than those in the healthy controls, but triglycerides and lipoprotein (a) have no significant difference. It seems that endocrine disorders in patients with β thalassemia has more effects on serum lipid profile. Further studies are needed to clarify the exact effect of different conditions on lipid profile in thalassemic patients.