title: Minor hemoglobins other than A2 in iron deficiency.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine any difference in levels of minor hemoglobins, other than hemoglobin A2 (HbA2), in patients with iron deficiency.
  
  
  METHODS
  We divided ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)-anticoagulated blood specimens from 188 patients into 2 groups, of which 94 displayed a normal or high ferritin level and the remaining 94 had a low ferritin level. We correlated the red cell indices, hemoglobin levels, and ferritin levels with the percentage of various minor hemoglobins. The Student's t-test was used to assess the statistical significance of the difference between the mean concentrations of minor hemoglobins in the 2 groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only hemoglobin HbA1a had a positive correlation (0.33 in iron-deficient and 0.35 in iron-replete specimens) with serum ferritin concentration. Among the minor hemoglobins, HbA1a (P =.008) and HbA2 (P <.001) were significantly different between the 2 groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HbA1a may be low in iron deficiency, independent of HbA2. This information may be used to predict coexistent iron deficiency in β-thalassemia traits, in which concomitant infection or inflammation leads to normal ferritin levels.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India drvani001@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Vani
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Chandrashekar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000097:blood*; D005260:Female; D006454:Hemoglobins / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D006454:Hemoglobins
keywords: HbA1a; HbA2; ferritin; high performance liquid chromatography; ion exchange; iron deficiency; minor hemoglobin