Sickle beta 0 thalassemia in Eastern Saudi Arabia.
The sickle cell (beta s) gene occurs at a high frequency in the oasis populations of Eastern Saudi Arabia. However, as compared with the disorder in Africans, sickle cell anemia runs an unusually benign clinical course in this populations; this has been attributed in part to the relatively high levels of fetal hemoglobin (Hb F) which characterize Saudi Arabians with this condition [1, 2]. As yet, there is no satisfactory explanation for this remarkable phenomenon. To learn more about the expression of the beta s gene in Eastern Saudi Arabia, we examined its interaction with beta 0 thalassemia. We found that remarkably high levels of Hb F in this population are not restricted to individuals with sickle cell anemia but also occur in compound heterozygotes for the beta s and beta 0 thalassemia (beta 0 thal) genes. Additionally, this study has characterized sickle cell-beta 0 thalassemia (S-beta 0 thal) in Eastern Saudi Arabia for the first time.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000235:genetics*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin / Q000235:genetics; D005787:Gene Frequency; D005796:Genes; D005808:Genes, Recessive; D006443:Hemoglobin A2 / Q000235:genetics; D006579:Heterozygote; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010641:Phenotype; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D012805:Sickle Cell Trait / Q000235:genetics*; D013789:Thalassemia / Q000235:genetics*
D006443:Hemoglobin A2; D005319:Fetal Hemoglobin