ABSTRACT
At present, an automated hemoglobin (Hb) analyzer has been used widely for determining the Hb profiles. The aim of this study was to compare Hb Bart ‘s and Hb E levels obtained from the 2 different automated-HPLC-analyzers. One hundred and seventy-nine cord blood samples suspected of having Hb Bart’s and Hb E determined by the Primus CLC 330 (Primus Corp, MO, USA.) were recruited. These samples were analyzed again by the Variant Hemoglobin Testing System (Bio-Rad Laboratories, CA, USA.) in which the data processor was modified to quantify the amount of Hb Bart’s. All samples were investigated for α-thalassemia 1 (SEA and THAI deletions), α-thalassemia 2 (3.7 and 4.2 kb deletions), Hb Constant Spring (Hb CS) and Hb Paksé as well as Hb E genes. Analysis of the difference-values of Hb Bart’s and Hb E levels obtained from the 2 systems revealed a median (95% CI) of -0.2 (-0.3, -0.1) for Hb Bart’s and -0.15 (-0.3, -0.05) for Hb E indicating that these values were significantly different (P \< 0.001 for Hb Bart’s and P = 0.008 for Hb E; Wilcoxon sign rank test). Comparison of Hb Bart’s and Hb E levels according to the thalassemia genotypes showed a lower trend of the values obtained from the Primus in almost all genotypes. However, statistical analysis of Hb Bart’s in a group of α-thalassemia 1 newborns showed no significant difference (11.7 ± 2.0 % vs 12.1 ± 2.5 %). The results indicated that Hb Bart’s level obtained from these 2 systems might be used comparatively for screening of α-thalassemia 1 in newborns.