The effect of quercetin on iron overload and inflammation in β-thalassemia major patients: A double-blind randomized clinical trial

•42 patients received a 500 mg/day quercetin and 42 others took a 500 mg/day placebo for 12 w.•Quercetin could significantly reduce ferritin and other serum iron factors (P > 0.05).•Quercetin significantly reduced hs-CRP (P = 0.046), but not TNF-α (p = 0.310).•According to our results, quercetin may be useful to reduce ferritin and inflammation in thalassemia major patients. The aim of this study was to determine whether quercetin can reduce iron overload and inflammation in thalassemic patients. Eighty four patients were recruited to this study and randomly assigned to two groups: 42 patients received a 500 mg/day quercetin tablet and 42 others took a 500 mg/day starch placebo for 12 weeks. Demographic, anthropometric and biochemical evaluation were performed. ANCOVA analysis revealed that compared to the control group, quercetin could reduce high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (P = 0.046), iron (p = 0.036), ferritin (p = 0.043), and transferrin saturation (TS) (p = 0.008) and increase transferrin (p = 0.045) significantly, but it had no significant effect on total iron binding capacity (TIBC) (p = 0.734) and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) (p = 0.310). Quercetin could ameliorate the iron status in thalassemia major, but its effect on inflammation is indistinctive.