Measurement of serum Klotho and its correlation with bone mineral density in patients withβ-Thalassemia Major

Abstract

This study was conducted to correlate the klotho protein level in plasma of β-Thalassemic patients with bone mineral density in the same patients. The study enrolled two groups, group included 50 Thalassemic patients their ages between 18 and 40, other group of 30 healthy blood donors as controls. Median levels of klotho in plasma were found to be lower in the group of thalassemic patients compared to that of the control group. These findings were statistically significant with P-value <0.001. Bone mineral density was measured by DEXA scan for the group of patients at spine (L2-L4) and neck of femur. At the level of L2-L4, 18% of the patients were normal and 82% were osteopenic or osteoporotic, while at the neck of femur 42% were normal and 58% were osteopenic.