{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,15]],"date-time":"2026-05-15T23:00:59Z","timestamp":1778886059264,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Springer Science and Business Media LLC","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,1]],"date-time":"2025-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743465600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,1]],"date-time":"2025-04-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1743465600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"funder":[{"name":"Siksha 'O' Anusandhan Deemed To Be University"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["link.springer.com"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Blood Res."],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,12]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>The clinical course of sickle cell anemia (SCA) is variable, with chronic hemolysis and end-organ damage caused by microvascular occlusion. We evaluated the efficacy and safety of thalidomide plus hydroxyurea (HU) compared with HU alone to determine whether the combination provides a superior clinical benefit and safety profile.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>This was an open-label quasi-experimental clinical trial (Clinical Trials Registry of India, CTRI Registration Number 2023\/04\/065682). Patients with SCA aged\u2009&gt;\u200912\u00a0years and postmenopausal females aged\u2009&gt;\u200945\u00a0years were allocated 1:1 to receive either HU (20\u00a0mg\/kg\/day) and thalidomide (50\u00a0mg\/day) in Group A or HU (20\u00a0mg\/kg\/day) only in Group B.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>The frequency of vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs), transfusion requirements, variations in hematological parameters (hemoglobin [Hb], fetal hemoglobin [HbF], and sickle hemoglobin [HbS]), and side effects between the groups were assessed over 12\u00a0months. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to determine changes across the observation period. The mean age of the 66 patients diagnosed with SCA (homozygous HbS mutation) was 32.9 (standard deviation\u2009\u00b1\u200911.5) years, and 57.6% were males. Over the 12-month observation period, Group A had significantly fewer VOCs (3.48\u2009\u00b1\u20092.81) and packed red blood cell transfusions (3.61\u2009\u00b1\u20092.19) than Group B (11.36\u2009\u00b1\u20094.20 VOCs; 13.27\u2009\u00b1\u20093.70 transfusions) (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009=\u20090.0001). There was a significant increase in Hb (8.2\u2009\u00b1\u20091.8 to 11.8\u2009\u00b1\u20091.2\u00a0g\/dL), a decrease in HbS% (72.5\u2009\u00b1\u20095.5 to 64.5\u2009\u00b1\u20095.4), and a rise in HbF% (18.9\u2009\u00b1\u20095.1 to 28.4\u2009\u00b1\u20095.6) (<jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\u2009&lt;\u20090.0001) in Group A.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>Combining thalidomide with HU significantly reduced VOCs and transfusion requirements, improved Hb and HbF%, and decreased HbS levels.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1007\/s44313-025-00068-4","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,3]],"date-time":"2025-04-03T21:31:57Z","timestamp":1743715917000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":3,"title":["Efficacy and safety of thalidomide with hydroxyurea in sickle cell anemia: a quasi-experimental clinical trial"],"prefix":"10.1007","volume":"60","author":[{"given":"Priyanka","family":"Samal","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Anindita","family":"Paul","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Harshwardhan","family":"Bahirat","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Ajit Kumar","family":"Bishoyi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Venkatarao","family":"Epari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,4,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"68_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"IJNS | Free Full-Text | Sickle Cell Disease\u2014Genetics, Pathophysiology, Clinical Presentation and Treatment. 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IEC\/IMS.SH\/SOA\/2021\/270 dated December 27, 2021). Written informed consent was obtained from the participants or their legal guardians in the case of minor participants. The participants were informed of their ability to withdraw from the study. The Clinical Trials Registry of India approved the trial (CTRI Registration Number: CTRI 2023\/04\/065682).","order":2,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Ethics approval and consent to participate"}},{"value":"The authors declare no competing interests.","order":3,"name":"Ethics","group":{"name":"EthicsHeading","label":"Competing interests"}}],"article-number":"21"}}