Kim Ji-Eun, Kim Bo-Ram, Woo Kwang-Sook, Kim Jeong-Man, Park Joo-In, Han Jin-Yeong
Department of Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, Dong-A University, 1, 3-ga Dongdaesin-dong, Seo-gu, Busan, Korea.
Korean J Lab Med. 2011 Oct;31(4):238-43. doi: 10.3343/kjlm.2011.31.4.238. Epub 2011 Oct 3.
β-thalassemia is primarily found in individuals of Mediterranean and Southeast Asian ancestry. With rapid growth in the Southeast Asian segments of the Korean population, the geographic distribution of hemoglobinopathies is expected to become significantly different from what it is today. In this study, Hb fractions were measured in patients with hypochromic microcytosis to detect thalassemia and Hb variants. To evaluate the feasibility of replacing cellulose acetate electrophoresis (CA) with capillary electrophoresis (CE) in a clinical laboratory, both techniques were performed and the outcomes were compared.
To evaluate hemoglobinopathies, complete blood cell counts (CBC), CA, and CE were carried out on samples from healthy and microcytic hypochromic groups. The microcytic hypochromic group consisted of 103 patients whose mean corpuscular volume (MCV) was less than 75 fL and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) was less than 24 pg. Quantitative analysis of Hb fractions was performed on 143 whole blood samples.
There was a good correlation for measurements of HbA (r=0.9370, P<0.0001), HbA(2) (r=0.8973 P<0.0001), and HbF (r= 0.8010, P=0.0304) between the two methods. In the microcytic hypochromic group, there were 29 cases (28.2%) with decreased HbA(2), 2 cases (1.9%) with increased HbA(2), 3 cases (2.9%) with increased HbF, and 2 cases (1.9%) with increased HbA(2) and HbF.
CE is comparable to CA for reliable measurement of Hb fractions. It is suitable for screening of hemoglobinopathies in many clinical laboratories.
β地中海贫血主要见于地中海和东南亚血统的个体。随着韩国人口中东南亚裔人群的快速增长，血红蛋白病的地理分布预计将与现在有显著不同。在本研究中，对低色素小红细胞性贫血患者的血红蛋白组分进行检测，以发现地中海贫血和血红蛋白变异体。为评估临床实验室中用毛细管电泳（CE）替代醋酸纤维素电泳（CA）的可行性，同时采用了这两种技术并比较结果。
为评估血红蛋白病，对健康组和小红细胞低色素组的样本进行全血细胞计数（CBC）、CA和CE检测。小红细胞低色素组由103例平均红细胞体积（MCV）小于75 fL且平均红细胞血红蛋白（MCH）小于24 pg的患者组成。对143份全血样本进行血红蛋白组分的定量分析。
两种方法对HbA（r = 0.9370，P < 0.0001）、HbA2（r = 0.8973，P < 0.0001）和HbF（r = 0.8010，P = 0.0304）的测量结果具有良好的相关性。在小红细胞低色素组中，有29例（28.2%）HbA2降低，2例（1.9%）HbA2升高，3例（2.9%）HbF升高，2例（1.9%）HbA2和HbF均升高。
CE在可靠测量血红蛋白组分方面与CA相当。它适用于许多临床实验室的血红蛋白病筛查。
