Influence of (alpha)-Thalassemia Trait on the Prevalence and Severity of Anemia in Pregnancy among Women in Kuwait

(alpha)-Thalassemia is very common in the Kuwaiti population, but its influence on anemia of pregnancy has not been previously investigated. We have screened a group of 59 anemic (Hb <11 g/dl) pregnant women for the (alpha)-thal-2 (-(alpha)-3.7 kb) deletion which is the commonest (alpha)-thal allele in this community, using a polymerase chain reaction method. A control group of 35 nonanemic (Hb <11 g/dl) pregnant women was studied for comparison. All the women were in the second or third trimester of pregnancy. Among the 94 women in both groups, 69 (73.4%) had a normal complement of (alpha)-globin genes ((alpha)/(alpha)(alpha)), 18 (19.1%) were heterozygotes (-(alpha)/(alpha)(alpha)) and 7 (7.4%) were homozygotes (-(alpha)/(alpha)) giving an allele frequency of 17.0%. Among the anemic group, there were 44 (74.6%) individuals with a normal genotype, 9 (15.3%) heterozygotes and 6 (10.2%) homozygotes. In the nonanemic group, the corresponding prevalence figures were 25 (71.4%), 9 (25.7%) and 1 (2.9%), respectively. The difference between these distributions was statistically significant ((chi)2 = 37.5, p < 0.0001). However, the mean Hb values were similar in heterozygotes, homozygotes and normal individuals. We, therefore, conclude that while the (alpha)-thal trait affects the prevalence of anemia among pregnant Kuwaiti women, it does not affect its severity.