Sickle cell gene in the population of Saudi Arabia
| Autor: | A. M. Al-Swailem, Abdul Rahman Al-Swailem, Hassan M. Bahakim, M. A. F. El-Hazmi, A. S. Warsy |
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| Rok vydání: | 1996 |
| Předmět: |
Male
Veterinary medicine education.field_of_study Heterozygote Anemia Biochemistry (medical) Clinical Biochemistry Population Hemoglobin Sickle Homozygote Saudi Arabia Hematology Anemia Sickle Cell Biology medicine.disease medicine Humans Female Hemoglobin education Sickle cell gene Allele frequency Genetics (clinical) |
| Zdroj: | Hemoglobin. 20(3) |
| ISSN: | 0363-0269 |
| Popis: | A comprehensive screening program was initiated in Saudi Arabia in 1982 to determine the frequency of the sickle cell (Hb S) gene in the different regions of Saudi Arabia. Over a period of 10 years 30,055 samples were collected from 36 areas in the five provinces of Saudi Arabia; these were screened using electrophoretic techniques in alkaline and acid pH for the presence of Hb S in heterozygous and homozygous states. The overall prevalence of Hb AS was 7.36% and Hb SS was 1.06%, giving an Hb S gene frequency of 0.047. The results from the different regions were separated and the prevalence of Hb AS and Hb SS and Hb S gene frequencies were calculated in each province and each region. The prevalence of Hb AS and Hb SS cases ranged from O to 25.88% and O to 5.27%, respectively. No case of Hb AS or Hb SS were identified in certain areas of the central province (Al-Russ, Al-Unaiza, Al-Mesnab and Bkaria) and northern province (Qurayat and Al-Jouf). In the southern province both Hb S homozygotes and heterozygotes were encountered in all regions except Farasan Island. In all other regions the Hb S gene was encountered, but at a variable frequency. Applying Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium it was observed that in the majority of the regions the observed Hb S homozygotes were significantly higher compared to the number expected (p < 0.0001). This was believed to be due to bias as the samples were collected in the hospital. The Hb S gene frequency in the different regions ranged from 0 to 0.17 when the frequency was calculated on the basis of both Hb AS and Hb. SS cases, and 0 to 0.13 if the gene frequency was calculated after eliminating the Hb SS cases. A close correlation was observed between the Hb S gene frequency and malaria endemicity. This study shows that the Hb S gene occurs frequently in several regions of Saudi Arabia and there is an urgent need to implement control and prevention programs to reduce the number of Hb S homozygous cases. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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