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Post-Transplant Events

The efficacy of selenium in prevention of oral mucositis in patients undergoing hematopoietic SCT: a randomized clinical trial

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 48, pages 832–836 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Oral mucositis (OM) is a complication of high-dose chemotherapy (HDC) followed by hematopoietic SCT (HSCT) with few effective treatments. Selenium has a cytoprotective role via the glutathione peroxidase (Glu.Px) enzyme and prevents chemotherapy-induced toxicities. We performed a double‐blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study to evaluate the efficacy of selenium on the prevention of OM in 77 patients with leukemia, undergoing allogeneic HSCT. Thirty-seven patients received oral selenium tablets (200 mcg twice daily) from the starting day of HDC to 14 days after transplantation. OM was evaluated daily for 21 days after transplantation according to World Health Organization oral toxicity scale. The incidence of severe OM (grades 3–4) was significantly lower in the selenium group (10.8% vs 35.1%, P<0.05). We noted that the duration of objective OM (grades 2–4), excluding patient’s self-declaration (grade 1), was significantly shorter in the selenium group (3.6±1.84 vs 5.3±2.2 days, P=0.014). Significant elevations in serum selenium level and plasma Glu.Px activity were observed 7 and 14 days after transplantation compared with baseline in the selenium group. We conclude that selenium can reduce the duration and severity of OM after HDC. Clinicaltrial.org ID: NCT01432873.

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Acknowledgements

We express our gratitude to the staff of BMT wards 1 and 2, especially Mrs Mousavi and Mrs Shahriari, at the Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Shariati Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    Z Jahangard-Rafsanjani & M Mojtahedzadeh

  2. Faculty of Pharmacy, and Research Center for Rational Use of Drugs, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    K Gholami & M Hadjibabaie

  3. Dental Research Center, School of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    A R Shamshiri

  4. Hematology-Oncology Department, Hematology-Oncology and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    K Alimoghadam

  5. Research Center for Rational Use of Drugs, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    A Sarayani

  6. Hematology-Oncology, and Stem Cell Transplantation Research Center, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

    M Ostadali-Dehaghi & A Ghavamzadeh

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  1. Z Jahangard-Rafsanjani
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  2. K Gholami
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Correspondence to M Hadjibabaie.

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Jahangard-Rafsanjani, Z., Gholami, K., Hadjibabaie, M. et al. The efficacy of selenium in prevention of oral mucositis in patients undergoing hematopoietic SCT: a randomized clinical trial. Bone Marrow Transplant 48, 832–836 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2012.250

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