Hemoglobin J Bangkok in a Chinese Canadian newborn

Abstract

A fast (anionic) abnormal hemoglobin was detected in the cord blood of a Chinese Canadian baby of Cantonese descent, during a hemoglobin Bart's survey in newborns at the Vancouver General Hospital, B.C. The heterozygotes possessing this variant, the propositus and her father, showed normal hematological findings except for the presence of abnormal pigment. From the biochemical studies reported here it is evident that the glycine at the 56th residue in the β chain is substituted by aspartic acid, this mutation being identical to that previously designated as Hb J Bangkok (α2Aβ256 Gly→Asp).