Correlation between serum ferritin, transferrin saturation and pituitary MRI T2 relaxation times and FSH, LH and testosterone levels in male transfusion-dependent thalassemia patients

Objective: The purpose of this study is to see the correlation between iron overload with the hypogonadal state by analyzing the correlation between ferritin serum, transferrin saturation and pituitary MRI T2 relaxation time with FSH, LH and testosterone levels. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of 32 male subjects with transfusion-dependent thalassemia. The subjects were collected with a consecutive sampling technique in the thalassemia outpatient clinic in National Hospital in Indonesia. Measurements of serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, FSH, LH and testosterone were taken using ELISA technique. Pituitary MRI T2 relaxation time was done using MRI Avanto 1.5 Tesla. Results: In this study, secondary sexual characteristics were not fully achieved in 62.5% of patients. Low testosterone levels were found in 25% of patients. There was a negative correlation between transferrin saturation and pituitary MRI T2 relaxation time in the normal testosterone level group. Conclusion: This study showed a high rate of patients who had not achieve puberty, but a low rate of patients with low testosterone, which means there is a weak negative correlation between transferrin saturation and pituitary MRI T2 relaxation times.