MOLECULAR DETECTION OF IVSINT.6 MUTATION ASSOCIATEDWITH ß -THALASSAEMIA IN IRAQI POPULATION

This study was conducted in the Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology for Postgraduate Studies, University of Baghdad from August 2007 to March 2008, it is an attempt to determine ethnic distribution of IVSInt.6 mutation associated with β- thalassaemia in Iraqi population. Ninety EDTA blood samples of clinically thalassaemic patients including Arab, Turkman and Kurd were collected from two thalassaemic centers in Iraq. Also blood sample from 30 apparently healthy individuals were collected as a control group. The DNA samples were subjected for molecular detection of IVSInt.6 β-thalassaemia mutation by Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS) based on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). It was found that the ethnic specificity of the studied mutation were reported for the first time within Iraqi population. The ethological distribution of the positive diagnosed mutation showed that the studied mutation was detected only in 10(33.33%) Turkman patients, while it was not detected in Arab and Kurds, which indicated that their was differences between them.