Combined Zeta Peptide Detection by ELISA and Hemoglobin Electrophoresis in Thalassemia Screening

Objective To explore a suitable mehtod for thalassemia screening in rural area. Methods A total of 750 couples of childbearing age in the village of Nanning were studied.Cases with lower mean red cell volume(MCV) were termed as positive thalassemia phenotype.Couples with one or both as positive of thalassemia phenotype were further studied.Zeta peptide was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Hemoglobin electrophoresis was performed with domestic electrophoresis apparatus.Genotype detection of thalassemia was adopted as gold standard. Results A total of 261 couples were positive thalassemia phenotype.In 97 couples with increased HbA2 in one or both of the pairs,4 couples had high risk of β thalasemia and both of these couples had β thalasemia gene..Results of electrophoresis was in accordance with that of β thalasemia genotype detection.α thalassemia gene detection indicated 119 cases(22.7%) carried --SEA.As for zeta peptide detection for --SEA diagnosis,7 cases(5.9%) were missed(among whom 5 were patients with HbH disease),and 2 cases were misdiagnosed(0.5%).Under the diagnosis criteria that either of the couples had positive zeta peptide,11 couples with high risk of α thalassemia could be detected. Conclusion Combined Zeta peptide detection by ELISA and hemoglobin electrophoresis is effective,economic and convenient in screening thalassemia in rural areas.