Background: Increased hemoglobin F (HbF) expression in individuals with β-thalassemia contributes to the alleviation of pathological phenomena and the reduction of mortality. We have investigated the correlation between six single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in BCL11A, XmnI-HBG2, HBS1L-MYB, and ANTXR1 and the levels of HbF in β-thalassemia carriers.
Methods: Samples were collected from 330 cases of β-thalassemia carriers. The genotypes of the rs4671393, rs-7482144, rs28384513, rs4895441, rs9399137, and rs4527238 were determined using Sanger sequencing.
Results: The results both of quantitative and qualitative analysis showed that rs4671393 (BCL11A), rs7482144 (Xmn1-HBG2), and rs9399137 (HBS1L-MYB) in β-thalassemia carriers correlated with the levels of HbF (p < 0.05), only rs28384513 (HBS1L-MYB) and rs4527238 (ANTXR1) were associated with HbF expression in β-thalassemia minor (p < 0.05).
Conclusions: These results indicate that the SNP rs4527238 in the ANTXR1 gene was found likely to play a role as a modulator of HbF levels in β-thalassemia carriers for the first time.