RESUMO
BACKGROUND: In homozygous ß-thalassemia, the primary genetic modifiers affecting the clinical severity of ß-thalassemia are genetic variants and the ability to reduce globin chain imbalance, thus resulting in a milder form of thalassemia. However, there are few reports on the molecular genetics of ß-thalassemia in Iraq. METHODS: We performed PCR and DNA sequencing on 40 Iraqi patients who were clinically suspected of having ß-thalassemia. RESULTS: The first genetic sequencing study was conducted in Maysan Governate, Iraq, using patients from various locations to identify novel mutations. There were five novel mutations: 294.T>C 12% (city center and Almajar district), 205. C>T 25% (city center, Alsalam, and Almashrah districts), 289.G>A 38% (Almaymuna and Gleat Salih districts), 49.T>C 32% (city center), and 624.C>A 32% (city center). These mutations were identified among ß-thalassemia patients by two regions of HBB gene 696 bp and 861 bp. CONCLUSIONS: The discovery of new genetic variants helps predict the severity of ß-thalassemia disease. There are relatively few studies in molecular genetics of ß-thalassemia in Iraq, and the new mutations reported here will provide valuable data for the prevention and control of ß-thalassemia in Maysan Governate, Iraq. The results can lead to new genetic sequencing investigations for other Iraqi regions.