[Correlation between hemoglobin F levels and single nucleotide polymorphism at BCL11A gene rs11886868 locus in ß-thalassemia patients].

This study was aimed to analyze hemoglobin F (HbF) level and single nucleotide polymorphisms at rs11886868 locus of BCL11A gene in ß-thalassemia patients, and to explore correlation between them. 89 mild ß-thalassemia patients with known mutations were registered, and HbF levels were determined by capillary electrophoresis. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral leukocytes, fragment including rs11886868 locus in BCL11A gene was amplified by PCR, and polymorphism was determined by DNA sequencing. The results showed that 2 polymorphisms including C and T were found at rs11886868 locus in BCL11A gene among 89 mild ß-thalassemia patients. HbF levels in red blood cells were (4.47 ± 3.42)% and (2.79 ± 2.21)% for ß-thalassemia patients carrying C/C and C/T haplotypes, respectively. There was difference between 2 haplotype groups. It is concluded that the C and T polymorphisms are found at rs11886868 locus in the BCL11A gene for ß-thalassemia patients. C polymorphism may be related to high HbF expression in red blood cells.

[A novel mutation in ß-globin gene of a patient with ß-thalassemia].

This study was aimed to analyze the ß-globin gene mutations in a patient with ß-thalassemia minor. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood cells of the patient. The full-length DNA sequence coding for ß-globin was amplified by polymerase chain reaction, and the gene mutation was determined by DNA sequencing. The results indicated that a heterogeneous A→G mutation was found at position 129 in intron 1 of the ß-thalassemia minor patient. It is concluded that the IVS-I-129(A→G) mutation is a splicing site mutation leading to a splicing error in immature messenger RNA and a protein translation error for the ß-globin gene. Thus, the IVS-I-129(A→G) is a novel mutation.