Hemoglobin Profile of Anemic Ethiopian Patients Attending Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital
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Date
2006-09
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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
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Keywords
Hemoglobin; Ethiopian Patients