Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

A sensitive and specific radioimmunoassay (RIA) for human embryonic zeta-globin chains was used to study normal fetal blood and newborn cord blood as well as cord blood from newborns with alpha-thalassemias. From 17 weeks until 37 weeks of gestation, zeta-globin chains were present in almost all fetal and cord blood samples (0.27% +/- 0.15% in samples of weeks 17 through 30; 0.14% +/- 0.11% in samples of weeks 31 through 37). zeta-Globin chains were present in greater than 80% of cord blood hemolysates from normal, full-term newborns (0.15% +/- 0.11%) as well as from 16 near-term newborns of diabetic mothers (0.13% +/- 0.13%). zeta-Globin chains were not detected in normal infants aged 3 months to 2 years. In cord blood hemolysates from alpha-thalassemic newborns, the levels of zeta-globin chain content varied from very high to undetectable levels. Gene mapping of the zeta-alpha-globin gene cluster was performed in 12 newborns in whom cord blood zeta-globin chains had been determined. Newborns who were carriers of alpha-thalassemia-1 due to the (--SEA/) deletion had very high levels of zeta-globin chains (greater than 1.5%).

Type

Journal article

Journal

Blood

Publication Date

09/1989

Volume

74

Pages

1409 - 1414

Addresses

Department of Pathology, McMaster University School of Medicine, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Keywords

Fetal Blood, Humans, Diabetes Mellitus, Fetal Hemoglobin, Globins, Hemoglobins, Abnormal, Aging, Embryonic and Fetal Development, Genotype, Infant, Newborn