Interaction of deletional alpha-thalassaemia with sickle cell beta-thalassaemia and its influence on foetal haemoglobin expression.

A rare association of three haemoglobin defects, viz: traits for deletion form of alpha-thalassaemia, beta-thalassaemia, and sickle cell gene, in a family of French West Indies origin, was studied both at phenotype and genotype levels. In this sickle cell beta-thalassaemia, interacting alpha-thalassaemia is shown to influence the foetal haemoglobin expression. A reverse relationship between the foetal haemoglobin level and the number of alpha genes was observed.