Leftward deletion α-thalassaemia in the Saudi Arabian population

摘要

Restriction endonucleases Bam HI and Bgl II were used to investigate the molecular basis of the deletion type of α-thalassaemia in the Saudi population. Four homozygous cases and six heterozygous cases of the leftward deletion type of α-thalassaemia (-α) were identified. So far, the leftward type of α-thalassaemia has been identified mainly in the Asiatic population, while the rightward deletion is universally distributed. This paper reports for the first time the presence of leftward deletion in the Saudi population and discusses the possibility of a more universal distribution of leftward delet