Evaluation of Hemoglobinopathies in Cases of Microcytic Hypochromic Anemia by High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Anemia remains a widespread public health problem with major consequences for human health as well as social and economic development. Although estimates of the prevalence of anemia vary widely and accurate data are often lacking, it can be assumed that significant proportions of young children and women of childbearing age are anaemic. Nutritional deficiency such as iron, vit B12 and folic acid constitutes most common causes of anemia. Due to higher prevalence of anemia and because of varied number of causes leading to anemia, RBC indices and morphology in peripheral blood are crucial for deciding further investigation to reach a proper diagnosis.Hemoglobinopathies are the most common inherited disorders worldwide. These hereditary disorders are major public health problem in many parts of the world including India. Hemoglobinopathies are the group of genetic disorders of hemoglobin in which there is a quantitative or qualitative abnormal production, or in the structure of hemoglobin molecule. Basic investigations for detection of hemoglobin variants include red cell indices, hemoglobin pattern analysis by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), electrophoresis and molecular studies. HPLC is intended for the percent determination of hemoglobins A2, F, A1C and for detection of abnormal hemoglobins in human whole blood using ion- exchange chromatography. HPLC offers a reliable tool for early detection of hemoglobin variants thereby aiding in prevention and management of various hemoglobinopathies.5 This study is being done for evaluation of hemoglobinopathies in cases of microcytic hypochromic anemia by HPLC.

All peripheral smears, complete blood count and HPLC findings will be interpreted initially by postgraduate student, later by supervisor and co-supervisors as per standard textbook and literature. The collected data will be entered into Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The Mean + SD will be calculated for quantitative data. Percentage and proportion will be calculated for qualitative data. Chi-square test and other appropriate test will be used to find out association between categorical variables. Using SPSS (ver 20) Software, p value < 0.05 will be considered as statistically significant.