Molecular Survey of Hemoglobinopathies in Myanmar Workers in Northeast Thailand Revealed an Unexpectedly High Prevalence of a+-Thalassemia

摘要

To provide the molecular information on hemoglobinopathies in the Myanmar population, the study was carried out on Myanmar workers in Khon Kaen Province in northeast Thailand. A total of 300 anonymous Myanmar factory workers were randomly recruited during their annual medical checkup. Hemoglobinopathies were identified using hemoglobin (Hb) and DNA analyses. These identified heterozygous oc°-thalassemia (oc°-thal) [- -SEA (Southeast Asian) deletion] (n = 5, 1.7%), heterozygous ot+-thal (n = 103, 34.3%), homozygous a+-thal {n = 12, 4.0%), heterozygous (3-thalassemia (P-thal) (n = 3, 1.0%), heterozygous p-thal with homozygous ot+-thal (n = 2, 0.7%), double heterozygous p-thal/a°-thal (n = 1, 0.3%)], heterozygous Hb E {HBB: c.79G>A) with a°-thal/a+-thal (n = 1, 0.3%), heterozygous Hb E (n = 27, 9.0%), heterozygous Hb E with oc+-thal (n = 24, 8.0%), homozygous Hb E with cr-thal/G), HBB: c.380T>G] are reported. While the proportions of ot°-thal, p-thal and Hb E are comparable to those described in neighboring countries, a markedly high prevalence of