A novel 7.9 kb deletion causing α+-thalassaemia in two independent families of Indian origin

We describe the characterization of a novel 7.9 kb deletion that eliminated one of the duplicated α-globin genes, causing an α+-thalassaemia phenotype in two independent carriers of Suriname-Indian origin. The molecular characterization of the deletion breakpoint fragment revealed neither involvement of Alu repeat sequences nor the presence of homologous regions prone to recombination, suggesting a non-homologous recombination event. This α+-thalassaemia deletion was found to give rise to an atypical haemoglobin H (HbH) disease characterized by a non-transfusion-dependent moderate microcytic hypochromic anaemia in combination with a poly adenylation signal mutation of the α-globin gene (α2 AATAAA → AATA).

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