RESUMO
The severity of ß-thalassaemia (ß-thal) intermedia is mainly correlated to the degree of imbalanced α/non α-globin chain synthesis. The phenotypic diversity of ß-thal depends on this imbalance and reflects all possible combinations of α- and ß-globin genotypes, levels of fetal haemoglobin (HbF) and co-inheritance of other modulating factors. This study aimed to demonstrate the validity of a new surrogate of α/non α-globin biosynthetic ratio by measuring the soluble α-Hb pool in lysed red blood cells. Our results confirm that the α-Hb pool measurement allows a good discrimination between ß-thal intermedia patients, controls and α-thal patients (P < 0·003). Receiver operator characteristic analyses revealed an area under the curve of 0·978 for the α-Hb pool measurement at a threshold of 120 ng free α-Hb/mg of total Hb/ml of haemolysate (ppm) with a sensitivity and specificity of 86% and 100%, respectively, to discriminate between ß-thal and not ß-thal subjects. Significant correlations were observed between the α-Hb pool and biological parameters of ß-thal, the most significant association being observed with red cell hexokinase activity. This study indicates that the α-Hb pool could be a new marker for assistance in diagnostic orientation of ß-thal intermedia patients and may be clinically useful for monitoring the evolution of the disequilibrium of globin synthesis in response to treatments.