Alpha thalassemia and alpha-MRE haplotypes in Uruguayan patients with microcytosis and hypochromia without anemia

Alpha thalassemia is the most common genetic disorder across the world, being the α-^3.7 deletion the most frequent mutation. In order to analyze the spectrum and origin of alpha thalassemia mutations in Uruguay, we obtained a sample of 168 unrelated outpatients with normal hemoglobin levels with microcytosis and hypochromia from two cities: Montevideo and Salto. The presence of α-thalassemia mutations was investigated by gap-PCR, restriction endonucleases analysis and HBA2 and HBA1 genes sequencing, whereas the alpha-MRE haplotypes were investigated by sequencing. We found 55 individuals (32.7%) with α-thalassemia mutations, 51(30.4%) carrying the -α^3.7 deletion, one with the -α^4.2 deletion and three having the rare punctual mutation HBA2:c.-59C>T. Regarding alpha-MRE analysis, we observed a significant higher frequency of haplotype D, characteristic of African populations, in the sample with the -α^3.7 deletion. These results show that α-thalassemia mutations are an important determinant of microcytosis and hypochromia in Uruguayan patients with microcytosis and hypochromia without anemia, mainly due to the -α^3.7 deletion. The alpha-MRE haplotypes and the α-thalassemia mutations spectrum suggest a predominant, but not exclusive, African origin of these mutations in Uruguay.