Prevalence of Hemoglobinopathies and their associations with different types of hemoglobin and mean cell volume in the preuniversity students of Bushehr, 2007

Hemoglobinopathies such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease are common genetic disorders. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of hemoglobinopathies and their associations with HbA, HbA2, HbS and HbF in the preuniversity students of Bushehr. Overall, 498 blood samples was collected in EDTA tubes. Hematological parameters including RBCs, Hb, MCV and MCH were determined by automatic analyzer. Measurement of HbA1, HbF, HbA2 and S band were done using Cellulose acetate electrophoresis. Samples with MCV< 80 fl and/ or MCH< 27 pg and/ or HbA2> 3.5% or HbF> 2% were diagnosed as Beta-thalassemia. Samples with positive sickle cell prep and had S band were diagnosed as SCA trait. Samples with HbA2 normal and low MCV or MCH were diagnosed as Iron deficiency or alpha thalassemia. In our study, 74 samples had MCV< 80 fl and also 14.9% of female and 12% male had MCH<27 pg. Ninety-seven (19.7%) were diagnosed as Beta-thalassemia minor. There was no significant relationship between MCV and MCH with HbA2 (p> 0.05). There was significant relationship between RBCs and HbA2 (p< 0.05). Our study showed that the prevalence of hemoglobinopathies is 28.2% and therefore it suggests that health care authorities must take steps to reduce the complications.