Iron Chelation Reduces DNA Damage in Sickle Cell Anemia.

Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a blood condition that causes severe pain. One of the therapeutic agents used for the treatment of SCA is hydroxyurea, which reduces the episodes of pain but causes DNA damage to white blood cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the combination of hydroxyurea and iron chelation therapy in relation to the extent of DNA-associated damage. Blood samples were collected from 120 subjects from five groups. Various hematological parameters of the obtained serum were analyzed. The amount of damage caused to their DNA was detected using the comet assay and fluorescent microscopy techniques. The percentage of DNA damage in the group that was subjected to the combination therapy (target group) was 1.32% ± 1.51%, which was significantly lower (P < .05) than that observed in the group treated with hydroxyurea alone (6.36% ± 2.36%). While the target group showed comparable levels of hemoglobin F and lactate dehydrogenase compared to the group that was treated with hydroxyurea alone, highly significant levels of transferrin receptors and ferritin were observed in the target group. The results of this study revealed that the administration of iron chelation drugs with hydroxyurea may help improve patients' health and prevent the DNA damage caused to white blood cells due to hydroxyurea. Further studies are needed to better understand the underlying mechanisms that are involved in this process.

Phage Display Derived Monoclonal Antibodies: From Bench to Bedside.

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become one of the most important classes of biopharmaceutical products, and they continue to dominate the universe of biopharmaceutical markets in terms of approval and sales. They are the most profitable single product class, where they represent six of the top ten selling drugs. At the beginning of the 1990s, an in vitro antibody selection technology known as antibody phage display was developed by John McCafferty and Sir. Gregory Winter that enabled the discovery of human antibodies for diverse applications, particularly antibody-based drugs. They created combinatorial antibody libraries on filamentous phage to be utilized for generating antigen specific antibodies in a matter of weeks. Since then, more than 70 phage-derived antibodies entered clinical studies and 14 of them have been approved. These antibodies are indicated for cancer, and non-cancer medical conditions, such as inflammatory, optical, infectious, or immunological diseases. This review will illustrate the utility of phage display as a powerful platform for therapeutic antibodies discovery and describe in detail all the approved mAbs derived from phage display.