Genetic Analysis of Beta-thalassemia Major and Beta-thalassemia Intermedia in Brazil

The development of methodologies to identify the molecular lesions responsible for different types of beta-thalassemia has made it possible to correlate these data with clinical and hematological severity. We examined DNA from 35 patients with beta-thalassemia, residents of the State of São Paulo, Brazil, for some types of genetic modifying factors: beta-thalassemia mutations, the upstream Xmnl GY-globin gene polymorphisms, and alpha-globin gene deletions. Additionally, the beta-like gene cluster haplotypes and the presence of the AYT variant were studied. The following mutations were present in the 70 chromosomes studied: 54.3% codon 39 (C-->T) (beta degree); 18.6% IVS-I-6 (T-->C) (beta+); 18.6% IVS-I-110 (G-->A) (beta+), and 4.3% IVS-I-1 (G-->T) (beta degree). Haplotype II was associated with the nonsense mutation at codon 39, haplotype I with the IVS-I-110 and codon 39 mutations, and haplotypes VI and VII with the IVS-I-6 mutation. The Xmnl polymorphism was detected in three out of 31 patients studied. No alpha-thalassemia was detected among the thalassemia intermedia patients. The AYT variant was present in 87.1% of 31 thalassemia patients and was associated with the codon 39/haplotype II and IVS-I-6/haplotype VI mutations. This is the first study of the Brazilian population that has analyzed the beta-thalassemia mutations and other molecular variants, and has correlated them with the clinical manifestations.