The Impact of Diabetes Mellitus and Hyperglycemia on the Severity and Outcome of Patients with COVID-19 Disease: A Single-Center Experience.

Purpose: Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been reported to be associated with a  worse outcome of COVID-19 infection. The evidence is scarce in the Middle East and Saudi Arabia. We aimed to evaluate the impact of diabetes mellitus and hyperglycemia in non-diabetic individuals on the severity and outcome of COVID-19 infection.

The ‑α3.7 deletion in α‑globin genes increases the concentration of fetal hemoglobin and hemoglobin A2 in a Saudi Arabian population.

The regions of Al‑Qatif and Al‑Ahssa in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia are known for their high prevalence of hemoglobinopathies, including β‑thalassemia and sickle cell anemia. Previously, the α‑gene deletion has been demonstrated as highly prevalent among populations residing in these two regions. The present study was conducted in order to investigate the implications of the α‑globin gene deletion on fetal hemoglobin (HbF) and hemoglobin α2 (HbA2) concentrations in patients with transfusion‑dependent β‑thalassemia.