Felipe Rafael Torres
Published: March 17, 2006
Genet. Mol. Res. 5 (1) : 89-90

Cite this Article:
F.Rafael Torres (2006). Hemoglobin and HFE gene polymorphisms in Brazilian populations in regions endemic for malaria (Estudo do polimorfismo de hemoglobinas e do gene HFE em populações brasileiras de áreas endêmicas de malária). Genet. Mol. Res. 5(1): 89-90.

About the Authors
Felipe Rafael Torres

Our objective was to determine how the distribution of red blood cell diseases is relatedto malaria occurrence in north Brazil, a region endemic for malaria. We evaluated the incidenceof two mutations in the HFE gene, H63D and C282Y, in two study groups: a control blood donorgroup, with no indication of malaria infection, and a group constituted of malaria patients of fourstates of the Amazonian region. The hemoglobin polymorphisms were obtained by HPLC andclassical laboratory methodologies, and the two mutations in the HFE gene were assayed byPCR-RFLP. We found a high frequency of alpha thalassemia, but there were no significantdifferences between blood donors and malaria patients. There were also no significant differences in the frequencies of HbA2; however, the frequency of HbF was significantly different inindividuals with malaria from Pará and Rondônia. Read More. .

Key words: Hereditary hemochromatosis, Malaria, Hemoglobin polymorphism, HFE polymorphism, Allelic frequency.