Prevalence of hemoglobin abnormalities in an apparently healthy population in Benin

Abstract

tBackground: Sickle cell disease is the most common monogenic disorder in humans and isa major public health concern in sub-Saharan Africa. In Benin, the prevalence of sickle celldisease is estimated to be 4.8%. Our study aimed to describe the prevalence of hemoglobinabnormalities in an apparently healthy Benin population.Methods: One thousand four hundred and eighty-three men and women, apparently in goodhealth after medical screening, were tested for hemoglobin abnormalities by hemoglobinelectrophoresis and the Emmel test. Subjects who were found to have homozygous or doubleheterozygous hemoglobin abnormalities, were re-sampled and a confirmation hemogramand hemoglobin electrophoresis test by capillary electrophoresis was performed.Results: Our study population was predominantly male (97.7%) with an average age of 21.3years. 1390 subjects reported that they did not know their hemoglobin electrophoresis sta-tus. Hemoglobin electrophoresis profiles found were as follows: 1077 (72.6%) AA (normal),238 (16.1%) AS, 161 (10.9%) AC, 3 (0.2%) SC, 4 (0.2%) CC and 0 (0%) SS. The 406 subjects withabnormal hemoglobin had balanced somatic growth, with general physical examinationresults showing no abnormalities. In the seven subjects with major sickle cell syndromeor hemoglobinosis (SC and CC), their values of various hemogram parameters were normalapart from the discreet presence of microcytic anemia.Conclusion: Our study highlights the need for increased routine testing of hemoglobin abnor-malities and newborn screening for sickle cell disease in order to enhance early diseasedetection, prevention and comprehensive care.