A comprehensive ethnic-based analysis of alpha thalassaemia allelle frequency in northern Thailand

Alpha (α)-thalassaemia is one of the most prevalent hereditary blood disorders, commonly affecting Southeast Asian people, with the highest incidence (30–40%) being seen in northern Thailand. However, this high incidence was estimated without consideration of the variations between ethnic populations and the geographical location of the populations. To address this issue, a total of 688 samples from 13 different northern Thai ethnic groups (30 villages) categorized into three linguistic groups were genotyped for deletional alpha-thalassaemia (-α3.7, -α4.2, --SEA and --THAI) and/or non-deletional alpha-thalassaemia (αCS and αPS) via multiplex gap-PCR and dot-blot hybridization, respectively. Alpha+(-α3.7, -α4.2, αCS and αPS) and alpha°-thalassaemia (--SEA and --THAI) allele frequencies (with 95% Confidence Interval) were the highest in the Sino-Tibetan group [0.13 (0.08–0.18)] and the Tai-Kadai group [0.03 (0.02–0.05)], respectively. With regards to ethnicity, the varying allele frequency of α+ and α°-thalassaemia amongst a variety of ethnic groups was observed. The highest α+-thalassaemia allele frequency was found in the Paluang [0.21 (0.10–0.37)] while α°-thalassaemia allele frequency was the highest in the Yuan [0.04 (0.01–0.10)]. These detailed results of alpha thalassaemia allele frequency and genetic diversity amongst the northern Thai ethnic groups demonstrate the need for ethnicity based thalassaemia prevention programs.