Hemoglobin Profile of Anemic Ethiopian Patients Attending Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital

No Thumbnail Available

Date

2006-09

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Addis Ababa University

Abstract

Hemoglobinopathies are inherited abnormalities of hemoglobin molecule that affect the production, structure and function of Hb. Hb is the protein of the red blood cells that binds oxygen reversibly and transport it from the lungs to the tissue and return carbon dioxide from the tissue back to the lungs. Hemoglobin genes are subject to mutations that alter the synthesis and structure of the protein. These diseases are common lethal genetic defects in some part of the world. This study was undertaken to find out the hemoglobin profile of anemic patients attending follow-up clinics at the TASH. The study subjects included both genders, between 3 months to 68 years of age. Information was collected from the patients by a questionnaire designed to find out the relationship of hemoglobin variants with gender, age, family relation ship, etc. Blood films were prepared to look for morphological appearances of red cells and also malaria parasites. Out of 113 patients studied, only one was found to have malaria parasite on blood film. 90 % of the morphologies revealed variable size and shape of the red blood cells. The CBC revealed that the Hb of the patients ranged from 3.0 to 12.0 gm/dl and the MCV and MCH were 56.1-122.0 fl and 14.1-50.5pg respectively. The hemolysate that was subjected to agarose and Native-PAGE revealed that all the patients had HbA, HbF and HbA2 and three patients (2.65 %) of the participants had sickle hemoglobin band. There were six patients (5.3 %) with thick HbA2 band. It is clear from this study that there is a need to conduct this type of research on larger sample using sensitive methods, including DNA analysis to investigate the prevalence and distribution of Hemoglobinopathies in Ethiopia

Description

Keywords

Hemoglobin; Ethiopian Patients

Citation