title: Is Hb A2 elevated in adults with sickle-alpha-thalassemia (beta(S)/beta(S); -alpha/-alpha)?
abstract: Thirteen patients with sickle cell anemia (SS) were found to have two alpha gene deletions with a presumptive genotype of beta(S)/beta(S); -alpha/-alpha. Hematological data showed that this group of patients had elevated Hb A2 level. In order to determine whether the elevation of Hb A2 is typical of SS with a two alpha gene deletion or is due to undiagnosed S-beta(O)-thalassemia with a two alpha gene deletion we looked for the presence or absence of beta(O)-thalassemia by molecular techniques. The latter included reverse dot-blot hybridization to rule out a beta-thalassemia mutation, digestion with CvnI endonuclease followed by Southern blotting and hybridization with a beta genomic probe, and, in selected patients, determination of the synthetic alpha/beta ratio. One of the 13 patients had S-beta(O)-thalassemia with a G-->A mutation at IVS-II-1 indicating that her genotype was beta(S)/beta(O) thalassemia; -alpha/-alpha. The remaining 12 patients were homozygous for the sickle gene, had relatively elevated Hb levels, increased Hb A2 values, and Hb F levels similar to those in patients with SS and four or three alpha genes. At the clinical level, the 12 patients with SS and a two alpha gene deletion had increased prevalence of avascular necrosis, retinopathy, and splenomegaly, but decreased prevalence of leg ulcers and cerebrovascular accidents. Together, the data indicate that SS with a two alpha gene deletion (beta(S)/beta(S); -alpha/-alpha) is a unique subset of patients with SS characterised by distinct hematological and clinical features.
authors.affiliation: Cardeza Foundation, Department of Medicine, Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Ballas
authors.forename: R N
authors.initials: RN
authors.lastname: Gay
authors.forename: F F
authors.initials: FF
authors.lastname: Chehab
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006443:Hemoglobin A2 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017085:alpha-Thalassemia / Q000097:blood* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D006443:Hemoglobin A2