Double-Blind Clinical Trial of Arginine Supplementation in the Treatment of Adult Patients with Sickle Cell Anaemia

Table 2

Haematological parameters of patients with SCA during the trial.

Haematological parameters	N (placebo; study)		Placebo Group			Study Group			p-value
			M0	M2	M4	M0	M2	M4
Erythrocytes x 10^6 (/mm^3)	20	16	2.5	2.4	2.4	2.5	2.5	2.5	0.378
Hb (g/dL)	20	16	8.9	9.1	9.2	8.7	9.1	9.4	0.525
HbF (g/dL)	18	17	13.6	16.0	14.8	13.9	15.2	16.4	0.455
HbS (g/dL)	19	16	78.9	79.1	77.9	78.4	78.0	76.4	0.882
Haematocrit ()	20	16	26.9	26.7	27.0	26.3	26.8	28.1	0.304
MCV (fL)	20	16	106.9	111.5	113.2	106.2	107.7	111.8	0.480
MCHC ()	20	16	34.2	34.1	34.2	33.4	34.1	33.7	0.661
Platelets x 10^3(/mm^3)	20	15	435	378	373	383	331	364	0.551
Reticulocytes ()	18	18	11.6	11.8	8.9	9.1	9.1	7.4	0.586

Two-way repeated measures ANOVA: HbF (foetal haemoglobin), Hb (haemoglobin), HbS (haemoglobin S); MCV (mean corpuscular volume); MCHC (mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration); SCA (sickle cell anaemia); M0 (timepoint before receiving placebo or L-arginine supplement); M2 (timepoint two months after receiving placebo or L-arginine supplement); M4 (timepoint four months after receiving placebo or L-arginine supplement).