Anemia Induced by Hemoglobinopathies: A Nested Case Control study from Gujarat, India

Abstract

Hemoglobinopathy is a condition in which an individual carries an abnormal variant of hemoglobin gene and common genetic abnormalities in India. In heterozygous conditions particularly thalassemia trait is reported to be associated adverse phenotypes such as anemia, kidney problem, etc. The aim of the present study is to understand the status of anemia with special reference to β-thalassemia carriers. A total of 2969 individuals of both sexes in the age group of 13-30 years were recruited and screened for hemoglobinopathies, where 199 cases and same recruited cohort 199 age and sex matched controls. The hematological parameter levels were estimated by CBC and HPLC to confirm and distinguish between different hemoglobinopathies and thalassemia. The frequency of anemia was higher (74.4%) among cases as compared to that of the controls (31.2%). Microcytic anemia is significantly higher among cases (87.8%) whereas normocytic anemia is significantly higher among controls (66.1%). β-thalassemia carriers are found to be affected by anemia specifically microcytic anemia. The indices, RBC count and hematological parameters provided high consistencies for differentiating β-thalassemia carriers and anemia.

Keywords

• Hemoglobinopathies
• Thalassemia carriers
• Microcytic anemia
• Mentzer Index
• Srivastava Index