title: Pattern for alpha-thalassaemia in Yemeni sickle-cell-disease patients.
abstract: A group of Yemeni patients with sickle-cell disease (SCD) and normal Hb AA individuals living in Riyadh were studied to determine the incidence of the alpha-gene molecular defect. Blood samples were obtained from 26 SCD patients and 19 controls (the Hb AA group). In the SCD patients the frequency of single alpha-gene deletion (-alpha/alpha alpha) was 0.346, compared to 0.263 in the Hb AA group. The frequency of two gene deletion (-alpha/-alpha) was 0.231 (0.0 for the Hb AA group). In one Hb AA case, a triple alpha-gene arrangement (alpha alpha alpha/alpha alpha) was found (frequency 0.053). The results suggest that alpha-thalassaemia occurs frequently in Yemeni SCD patients. Further studies to determine the overall frequency of alpha-thalassaemia in the Republic of Yemen would be of value for patient management.
authors.affiliation: Medical Biochemistry Department, WHO Collaborating Centre for Haemoglobinopathies, Thalassaemias and Enzymopathies, College of Medicine, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: el-Hazmi
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: Warsy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*; D001345:Autoradiography; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D004909:Erythrocyte Indices; D017353:Gene Deletion; D005787:Gene Frequency / Q000235:genetics*; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D011159:Population Surveillance; D015183:Restriction Mapping; D015006:Yemen / Q000453:epidemiology; D017085:alpha-Thalassemia / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics*