DCI in patients during L1-DFO combination therapy.

Blood samples of 8 patients with thalassemia major were taken immediately before (0 minutes) and at intervals of 30 minutes after oral administration of L1, followed by 30- to 60-minute intravenous infusion of DFO (shown by arrows). Serum was obtained from the blood samples after overnight storage at 4°C and subsequently stored frozen. All samples were assayed for DCI in duplicate as described in “Patients, materials, and methods.” Dashed line indicates 0 value.