title: Alpha thalassemia and its impact on other clinical conditions.
abstract: Mild alpha thalassemia is the most prevalent genetic trait worldwide. We have recently developed a multiplex polymerase chain reaction method to screen for the most common deletions which give rise to alpha thalassemia. The authors have used this method to investigate a potential association of alpha thalassemia with hypertension. Our results show that the prevalence of hypertension in hospitalized blacks who have the -alpha 3.7 deletion is 71 percent higher than the prevalence in hospitalized blacks who do not have the deletion. The authors present a potential mechanism to explain this association.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, USA.
authors.forename: L J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Bowie
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Reddy
authors.forename: K R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Beck
mesh_terms: D002885:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 16; D004247:DNA / Q000032:analysis; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D017085:alpha-Thalassemia / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D005914:Globins; D004247:DNA