Bone marrow and peripheral blood globin chain biosynthesis in iron deficiency.

Globin chain synthesis was studied in 13 iron-deficient patients. The mean whole-cell globin alpha/beta ratio in the peripheral blood of 11 patients was 1.05 +/- 0.06 which is similar to the value 0.99 +/- 0.08 obtained for 10 controls. The ratios obtained for stroma-free globin were not significantly different from those of whole cell preparations. In contrast, the alpha/beta ratio of bone marrow was 0.73 +/- 0.14 in 10 iron deficient patients, which is significantly lower than that of controls. Two other patients had decreased alpha/beta ratios in the peripheral blood, probably because of the presence of an alpha-thalassemia gene. These results demonstrate a reduced rate of synthesis of alpha chains relative to that of beta chains in the bone marrow of iron-deficient patients that is not demonstrable in the peripheral blood.