Alpha-thalassemia is a hereditary disease with a worldwide distribution characterized by reduced or absent synthesis of hemoglobin chains. Deletions involving the globin genes, which are duplicated ( 2 and 1) and located in the cluster (16p13.3), are the most common causes of the disease and account for over 80% of cases. Loss of a functional gene in the haploid genome results in +-thalassemia,...

In order to provide a reference range for hematological parameters and red blood cells indices in Thai children, we analyzed data from 395 healthy non-anemic Thai children age from 1-16 years old, who all had normal pattern of hemoglobin typing (Hb A and Hb A2 less than 3.5%). Hematological analysis was performed using an automated cell counter and the hemoglobin studies were carried out by ele...

OBJECTIVE To document the prevalence of nutritional deficiencies, infectious diseases and susceptibility to vaccine preventable diseases in Karen refugees in Australia. DESIGN Retrospective audit of pathology results. SETTING Community based cohort in Melbourne over the period July 2006-October 2009. PARTICIPANTS 1136 Karen refugee children and adults, representing almost complete local a...

Background. The two most frequent types of microcytic anemia are beta thalassemia trait ( β -TT) and iron deficiency anemia (IDA). We retrospectively evaluated the reliability of various indices for differential diagnosis of microcytosis and β -TT in the same patient groups. Methods. A total of 290 carefully selected children aged 1.1-16 years were evaluated. We calculated 12 discrimination ind...

α-Thalassemia, arising from a defect in α-globin chain synthesis, is often caused by deletions involving one or both of the α-genes on the same allele. With the aim of investigating the prevalence of α-thalassemia 3.7 kb deletion in the adult population of Rio Grande do Norte, 713 unrelated individuals, between 18 and 59 years-of-age, were analyzed. Red blood cell indices were electronically de...

BACKGROUND Beta-thalassaemia is a congenital disorder caused by point mutations in a haemoglobin beta-globin chain. The heterozygous form produces microcytosis and normal iron levels, however, haemoglobin electrophoresis shows elevated amounts of haemoglobin A2 and eventually foetal haemoglobin F as well. METHODS Between 2005-2011, in three centres in Slovakia, carriers of beta-thalassaemic g...

The relationship between the degree of microcytosis and the type of mutation carried by beta-thalassemia heterozygotes was investigated. In 113 individuals, 18 different mutations were identified, correlated with mean corpuscular volume (MCV) values, and analyzed statistically. Overall, there was a wide range of MCV (56.3-87.3 fL). In almost all cases, carriers of beta(0) mutations had an MCV b...

Given the detrimental effects of HIV-associated anemia on morbidity, we determined factors associated with anemia after 96 weeks of antiretroviral therapy (ART) across age groups. An HIV-positive cohort (n=3,580) of children age 5-14, reproductive age adults 18-49, and older adults ≥50 from two randomized trials in Uganda and Zimbabwe were evaluated from initiation of therapy through 96 weeks. ...

BACKGROUND Microcytic hypochromic anemia is a common condition in clinical practice, and alpha-thalassemia has to be considered as a differential diagnosis. AIMS This study was conducted to evaluate the frequency of alpha-gene, beta-gene and hemoglobin variant numbers in subjects with microcytic hypochromic anemia. SETTING AND DESIGNS Population-based case-control study in the Iranian popul...