OBJECTIVETo investigate the incidence and common types of abnormal hemoglobin diseases of the couples at childbearing age by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in Guangzhou city.

METHODSThe couple of childbearing age in the Birth defect intervention project and Free pre pregnancy health examination were screened from October 2008 to February 2016 in Guangzhou city. The HPLC was used to detect abnormal hemoglobin; The Gap-PCR and reverse dot blot(RDB) were used to detect thalassemia gene deletions.

RESULTSThe detection rate of hemoglobinopathies was 1.14% in the couples of childbearing age in Guangzhou city. 8 kinds of abnormal hemoglobin were detected: Hb E in 102 cases(17 cases with α thalassemia) , Hb Q-Thailand in 20 cases(18 cases with α thalassemia, 2 cases with α and β thalassemia), Hb D-Iran in 4 cases(2 cases with α thalassemia, 1 case with α and β thalassemia), Hb G-Honolulu in 3 cases(1 case with α thalassemia), Hb J-Bangkok in 2 cases(2 cases with α thalassemia), Hb Osu-Christiansborg in 1 case(with α thalassemia), Hb Hasharon in 1 case(with α thalassemia), Hb Koln in 1 case(with α thalassemia).

CONCLUSIONThe incidence of abnormal hemoglobin diseases in Guangzhou area has been found to be more high, 8 kinds of abnormal hemoglobin are found by HPLC, the HPLC is an effective way to screen the couples of childbearing age for β thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies.