Prevalence of α-thalassemia 3.7 kb deletion in the adult population of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.

α-Thalassemia, arising from a defect in α-globin chain synthesis, is often caused by deletions involving one or both of the α-genes on the same allele. With the aim of investigating the prevalence of α-thalassemia 3.7 kb deletion in the adult population of Rio Grande do Norte, 713 unrelated individuals, between 18 and 59 years-of-age, were analyzed.

Haptoglobin study in myasthenia gravis.

Objective: A cross-sectional study of haptoglobin (Hp) in myasthenia gravis (MG) was designed, with the objective to identify its values and correlate them with different disease status.

Method: 46 patients were enrolled in the study, all having disease severity established according to the quantitative myasthenia gravis strength scores (QMGSS). Based on the functional scale determined by Myasthenia Gravis Foundation of America (MGFA) recommendations, patients were classified as having: complete stable remission (CSR; n=10); minimal manifestations-0 (MM0; n=6), minimal manifestations-1 (MM1; n=4); pharmacological remission (PR; n=6).