Chelation of cobalt by combining deferasirox, deferiprone and desferrioxamine in rats

The hypothesis that three known chelators deferasirox, desferrioxamine and deferiprone might be more efficient as combined treatment than as single therapies in removing cobalt from the body, was evaluated. Animals were randomly divided into a control (n = 5) and toxic groups (n = 90). Cobalt chloride was administrated orally. Chelators were given orally (DFX and deferiprone) or intraperitonealy (DFO) 2 weeks. Cobalt concentration was determined by FAAS. The chelation therapy results show that all three chelators are able to remove cobalt from tissues but DFX was more effective than DFO and deferiprone, whereas the combined therapy is more efficient in compare to single therapy.