Hemoglobin variants in Mexico.
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Ruiz Reyes.
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Two new cases of hemoglobin S-beta thalassemia are being reported. Twenty-six relatives are studied. The two cases were classified as Mediterranean variety. The diagnostic problem and the therapeutical possibilities are considered.
The prevalence of beta thalassemia (B-thal) in Mexico is largely unknown, and it is thought that the disease is confined to populations with Mediterranean ancestors. Various reports suggest that in certain parts of the coast in the Gulf of Mexico the prevalence of both B-thal and hemoglobin S disease/trait is high. We studied prospectively a town with 11,000 inhabitants named Tamiahua, located along the Gulf Coast, in the State of Veracruz, and very close to the State of Tamaulipas. A group of 200 inhabitants was initially studied: the prevalence of B-thal was 15% and 6% of them had sickle cell trait. The prevalence of B-thal is the highest reported in the country. In a second part of the study, two family trees with members heterozygous for B-thal and/or Hb S trait were constructed. The ethnic characteristics of the studied population makes unlikely that the gene was derived from white Europeans but not from black Africans. Inasmuch as the indians living in that part of the country belong to the macro-maya glotochronological group, where a relatively high prevalence of B-thal has also been identified, we feel that it is possible that B-thal was present in our country before the Spaniards arrived to Mexico.
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In 21 out of 466 full term newborn babies (4.5%) and in 5 out of 50 prematures (10%) a transient fibrinogen electrophoretic abnormality, anodic and cathodic, was found. The observation that the thrombin time in full term newborn babies is prolonged, compared with the adult levels, was confirmed (p less than 0.0005). The difference between the thrombin time in full term newborn babies without fibrinogen electrophoretic abnormalities and those who had them, was statistically significant (p = 0.005) suggesting that the abnormality is associated with the protein function. The normal electrophoretic component could be the "adult" equivalent of the protein and the cathodic variant, the "fetal" type of fibrinogen. This hypothesis could explained why the thrombin time of plasma in newborn normal babies is enriched with the "fetal" fibrinogen in variable proportion, and is delayed compared with that of the adults.