Erythraemia due to Haemoglobin San Diego

A 63-year-old man with erythraemia was found to have a high affinity haemoglobin which was subsequently identified as Hb San Diego beta 109 (G11) Val leads to Met, recently described in a Filipino family (Nute et al, 1974). The oxygen affinity of the haemolysates was increased approximately two-fold at pH values between 6.04 and 7.90. The n value was nearly normal (2.5-2.9) in the upper range of saturation (70-95% oxygenation) but was somewhat diminished (1.9-2.1) below this range. In vitro biosynthesis of globin by reticulocytes showed that there was balanced synthesis of alpha and beta chains (alpha:beta ratio = 1).