Alpha-thalassemia incidence in southern Thailand by restriction endonuclease analysis of globin DNA from placental blood at Songklanagarind Hospital.
The incidence of alpha-thalassemia has been studied previously based on the levels of Hb Barts' in cord blood. This method is an inadequate indicator of alpha-thalassemia. Thus in this study we use DNA analysis to get more accurate data. Hb Barts' was detected in placental blood samples from 15.5% of 375 infants born at Songklanagarind Hospital. The white blood cell DNA of 300 samples was studied for alpha-globin gene deletions by hybridization of DNA fragments digested by the restriction endonuclease Eco RI with specific 32P-labled zeta-globin gene probe. The incidence of alpha-thal 2 and alpha-thal 1 traits were 12.0% and 4.3%, with the gene frequencies 0.0650 and 0.0217 for -alpha/and --/, respectively. The incidence of HB CS trait was 5.8%, with the gene frequency of 0.0292 for alpha cs alpha/. We also found that the incidence of the triplicated zeta and triplicated alpha were 14.7 and 1.0%, with the gene frequencies of 0.0733 and 0.0050 for zeta zeta zeta/and alpha alpha alpha/, respectively. The DNA lesion of alpha-thalassemia in the south is similar to the study of Tanphaichitr et al (1988) in central Thailand. Knowledge of alpha-globin gene deletion would be useful for prenatal diagnosis of Bart's hydrops to prevent toxemia of pregnancy in the south of Thailand.
Sriroongrueng
W
W
Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkla University, Thailand.
Pornpatkul
M
M
Panich
V
V
Fucharoen
S
S
D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000378:metabolism; D005838:Genotype; D005914:Globins / Q000235:genetics; D006455:Hemoglobins, Abnormal / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011247:Pregnancy; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D017085:alpha-Thalassemia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*
D006455:Hemoglobins, Abnormal; D005914:Globins; D004247:DNA; C030448:hemoglobin Bart's; D004262:DNA Restriction Enzymes