ArticleJournal of blood medicine2025
Alpha+ Thalassemia in Northwestern Tanzania: Molecular and Hematological Insights From Newborn Screening.
Article in Journal of blood medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of alpha+ thalassemia and its hematological indices in a newborn population in Mwanza city, North-western Tanzania. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study screened 803 newborns for alpha+ thalassemia that extracted DNA from dried blood spots using the Qiagen Mini Kit then analysed by multiplex PCR. Demographic data, anemia-related clinical information, and CBC parameters were collected at birth. Prevalence was determined by the proportion of newborns with the alpha+ thalassemia deletion. Fisher's Exact test assessed differences in demographic and clinical variables, while Student's t-tests and ANOVA evaluated hematological parameters. A P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Alpha thalassemia was detected in 49.6% (398/803) of neonates, with 38.6% heterozygous and 11.0% homozygous deletions. Significant differences in erythrocyte indices were observed across groups. Hemoglobin (Hb) levels were lower in heterozygous (_α/αα) and homozygous (_α/_α) newborns (16.42±3.62 g/dl and 16.04±3.37 g/dl, respectively) compared to the αα/αα group (17.03±3.35 g/dl, p < 0.05). Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) was reduced in heterozygous (_α/αα) and homozygous (_α/_α) groups (99.23±9.12 μm³ and 94.75±9.88 μm³, respectively) compared to αα/αα (102.41±9.56 μm³, p < 0.0001). Mean Corpuscular Hemoglobin (MCH) followed a similar pattern, being lowest in the homozygous group (p ≤ 0.0001). Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) was higher in homozygous (_α/_α) newborns (10.03±1.22) compared to heterozygous (_α/αα) (9.57±0.79, p < 0.001). Leucocyte counts were significantly higher in heterozygous (_α/αα) newborns (13.91±12.14) compared to homozygous (_α/_α) (12.60±7.91) and αα/αα groups (11.26±9.76, p = 0.001). Conclusion: Alpha+ thalassemia is highly prevalent in North-western Tanzania and significantly affects blood indices. Neonatal screening is an effective tool for identifying affected children, especially in settings with high prevalence of a trait and low awareness of genetic inheritance.
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