University of Pittsburgh
MitoQ is commercially available as a dietary supplement and it has been tested as a potential drug in other diseases, but it has never been tested in patients with sickle cell disease. The goal of this research is to study if MitoQ, a molecule that works as an antioxidant by removing potentially damaging agents in a living organism, improves platelet function in patients with sickle cell disease (SCD).
Antioxidant therapies targeted to specific enzymes or compartments may be beneficial in sickle cell anemia (SCA). MitoQ, the most extensively studied mitochondrial-targeted antioxidant, has been shown to be protective against ischemia/reperfusion injury in the heart, endothelial damage due to hypertension and ROS in animal models. MitoQ is commercially available as a dietary supplement to reduce overall oxidative stress and anti-ageing. However, MitoQ has not been tested either as a platelet antagonist or as an endothelial protectant in SCA patients. Investigators propose to conduct a small cl…
Inclusion Criteria: Subjects * African American * Patients with sickle cell anemia * 18 years old or older Control * African American healthy controls * 18 years of age or older Exclusion Criteria: 1. Pregnancy, 2. Known hypertension, 3. Hemodialysis and active obstructive sleep apnea requiring treatment. 4. Use of anti-platelet medication or have had transfusion in the 4 weeks prior to enrollment.
Oral; 20mg once a day for 14 days