Figure 3. High liver iron concentration and splenectomy worsen mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage.
Subjects with thalassemia (n = 35) were placed into 4 groups according to liver iron concentration (LIC) below 15 mg/g (low) or above 15 mg/g (high) and whether they were splenectomized or not. Symbols represent mean (+) and median (diamond) for each group. The differences among the group means were significant (P = 0.003) using one-way ANOVA. Using Tukey’s multiple comparisons test, the mean differences were statistically significant between groups “b” and “c” (P = 0.022) and groups “b” and “d” (P = 0.010). A borderline significant difference was found between groups “a” and “d” (P = 0.056).