ABSTRACT
Background: Hemoglobinopathies pose a significant health burden in India. Prevention programmes can significantly reduce this burden. Although sophisticated methods of screening for β thalassemia trait are available, a cheap and simple method is beneficial for population screening. Although the Naked Eye Single Tube Red Cell Osmotic Fragility Test (NESTROFT) has been evaluated in many studies, sample sizes were small in some and many earlier studies have not done complete blood count (CBC) and High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) in all the cases. We evaluate the suitability of NESTROFT for detection of β-thalassemia trait in a high prevalence region in Saurashtra, Gujarat.Methods: Here, 1000 unrelated individuals were studied. NESTROFT, CBC and estimation of HbA2 and HbF or other hemoglobin variants were done by HPLC.Results: Prevalence of β thalassemia trait was 7.8% in this population. NESTROFT showed an overall sensitivity and specificity of 94.87 and 85.38 respectively for the detection of β thalassaemia trait. Using red cell indices (MCH <27 pg and MCV <80 fl), One β thalassemia trait with normal indices would have been missed. Among twelve individuals with other hemoglobinopathies (HbS, HbD, HbE, δβ thalassemia trait or HPFH), seven had a positive NESTROFT while three had normal MCV & MCH values.Conclusions: NESTROFT is a cost-effective sensitive test which does not require any equipment and can be done in remote areas. It remains a useful first line screening test when large populations have to be screened.
ABSTRACT
Background: Gamma irradiation has been often used for inactivating viable T lymphocytes in the blood product to prevent post-transfusion graft - vs - host disease (PT - GVHD) occurred in the recipients having immunodeficiency. But the irradiating method must be determined to minimize the reverse effects on other blood elements. Objectives: to evaluate the side effects of gamma irradiating with 25 Gy and in different ways on red cells in stored red cell concentrates. Subjects and methods: Each of 30 red cell concentrates was divided into 3 parts and treated in 3 different ways to create 3 groups of sample for studying. All the samples were stored 35 days at 4 - 6\xb0C and measured red cell osmotic fragility, hemoglobin (Hb) level in storage solution in days 1,7,14,21,28,35. Results: 1) Red cell osmotic fragility decreased and free Hb level increased with time in the samples of 3 groups. 2) Red cell osmotic fragility decreased strongly from the 28th day (p < 0.05) and free Hb level increased dramatically from the 14th day (p < 0.001) in the samples of group 2 compared to control group and group 3 with the same storage time, while there was no difference in these parameters in groups 1 and 3. Conclusion: 1) Gamma irradiation with 25 Gy affected the intact of red cells in red cell concentrates only when irradiated right after being produced and stored more than 14 days. 2) The quality of red cell would be unchanged if used immediately after irradiated. \r\n', u'\r\n', u'