Bowie L J, Reddy P L, Beck K R
Department of Pathology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, USA.
Clin Lab Med. 1997 Mar;17(1):97-108.
Mild alpha thalassemia is the most prevalent genetic trait worldwide. We have recently developed a multiplex polymerase chain reaction method to screen for the most common deletions which give rise to alpha thalassemia. The authors have used this method to investigate a potential association of alpha thalassemia with hypertension. Our results show that the prevalence of hypertension in hospitalized blacks who have the -alpha 3.7 deletion is 71 percent higher than the prevalence in hospitalized blacks who do not have the deletion. The authors present a potential mechanism to explain this association.
