Abstract

The inheritance of the sickle cell gene in combination with a gene for β+ thalassemia results in a spectrum of sickle cell-β+ thalassemia syndromes with varying levels of hemoglobin A (HbA). Some sever sickle cell-β+ thalassemia syndromes have small amount of HbA, which may be difficult to quantitate in the presence of fetal homoglobin. A microcolumn chromatographic method, using 0.5 M Tris-acetic acids developers with varying pH values from 9.0 to 6.0, appears to adequately quantitate small amounts of HbA. This method is relatively simple and cheaper than high-performance liquid chromatography, a major consideration in developing countries.