Objective To compare the effect and cost of three different α-thalassemia prenatal screening strategies used in Guangdong, China, and to provide evidence for α-thalassemia prevention. Methods In total, 13 284 hospital-delivery couples and 13 369 newborns/fetuses (offspring) from 21 counties or districts of Guangdong Province were included in this study, who were treated from June to December 2012. Mean cell volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and hemoglobin A2 (Hb A2) were detected in the couples, and 6 types ofα-globin gene mutations were found in all couples and newborns. The strategies were MCV/MCH and serum Hb A2 (protocolⅠ) or parallel screening based on pregnant women (protocolⅡ), and serum screening based on couples (protocolⅢ). The validity and reliability of the three strategies were then compared using the Chi-square test. Results The sensitivity and the specificity of pregnant women who wereα-thalassemia carriers in protocolⅠwere 74.82%(1 352/1 807) and 74.11%(8 506/11 477), and were 89.82%(1 623/1 807) and 48.60%(5 578/11 477) in protocol Ⅱ , respectively. And 1.67% (221/13 284) couples were bothα-thalassemia carriers by the gene test. The rate of missed diagnosis in bothα-thalassemia carrier couples in protocolsⅠ,ⅡandⅢwas 50.68%(112/221), 11.76%(26/221) and 11.31%(25/221), respectively. In couples who needed prenatal diagnosis, the rates of missed diagnosis, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value were 17.46%(11/63), 82.54%(52/63),98.35%(13 003/13 221), 19.26%(52/270) and 99.92%(13 003/13 014) in protocolⅠ;4.76%(3/63), 95.24%(60/63), 88.18%(11 658/13 221), 3.70%(60/1 623) and 99.97%(11 658/11 661) in protocolⅡ;and 3.17%(2/63), 96.83%(61/63), 59.31%(7 842/13 221), 1.12%(61/5 440) and 99.97%(7 842/7 844) in protocol Ⅲ , respectively. The diagnosis of severeα-thalassemia was not missed in all three screening strategies. The mean cost of protocols Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ for detecting a couple who needed prenatal diagnosis was 37 049.23, 50 836.00 and 40 321.64 RMB, respectively. Conclusions The three screening protocols have good efficiency in screening forα-thalassemia. However, protocolsⅡandⅢare preferred when financial conditions permit.

Objective To compare the effect of three β-thalassemia prenatal screening strategies in Guangdong province. Methods A total of 13 284 hospital-delivered couples and 13 369 newborns were recruited from 91 hospitals in 21 counties or districts of Guangdong province from June to December 2012. Mean cell volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and hemoglobin A2 (Hb A2) were tested for all the couples, and all the couples and newborns were detected by 17 types ofβ-globin gene mutations. The effect of three β-thalassemia prenatal screening strategies were compared as following:(1) MCV/MCH with Hb A2 serial screening(SS):Hb A2 was tested if the woman′s MCV<82 fl and(or)MCH<27 pg. If the woman′s Hb A2>3.5, it meant positive. And if the woman wasβ-thalassemia carrier and her husband′s Hb A2>3.5, it meant couple positive. (2) MCV/MCH with Hb A2 parallel screening(PS):if the woman′s MCV<82 fl and (or) MCH<27 pg and(or) Hb A2>3.5 pg, it meant couple positive. And the husband would be tested forβ-globin gene mutations if the woman was β-thalassemia carrier. (3) MCV/MCH with Hb A2 serial screening for couples(SSC):if one of the couple or both of them had MCV<82 fl and(or) MCH<27 pg, the couple would be tested for Hb A2, and if one of the couple got Hb A2>3.5, it meant couple positive. Results (1) For the SS strategy, the sensitivity was 92.69%(583/629);the specificity was 99.87%(12 638/12 655); the positive predictive value was 97.17%(583/600);and the negative predictive value was 99.64%(12 638/12 684). The results ofβ-globin gene mutations tested showed that the rate ofβ-thalassemia carriers was 4.74%(629/13 284) in the 13 284 pregnant women, and it was 4.29%(570/13 284) in their husbands. (2) The SS strategy detected 27 (0.20%,27/13 284) β-thalassemia carrier couples. For the SS strategy detecting β-thalassemia carrier couples, the missed diagnosis rate was 11.11%(3/27);the sensitivity was 88.89%(24/27);the specificity was 100.00%(27/27); the positive predictive value was 100.00%(24/24); and the negative predictive value was 99.98%(13 257/13 260). (3) When using the SS strategy for 13 369 offsprings, there were 582β-thalassemia carriers (4.35%,582/13 369), including 578 (99.31%,578/582) minorβ-thalassemia, 3 (0.52%,3/582) intermediaβ-thalassemia and 1 (0.17%,1/582) major β-thalassemia. The SS strategy detected 25 fetuses who neededβ-thalassemia prenatal diagnosis. (4) For the PS strategy, the sensitivity was 98.09%(617/629); the specificity was 88.73%(11 229/12 655); the positive predictive value was 30.20%(617/2 043); and the negative predictive value was 99.89%(11 229/11 241). (5) When using the PS strategy for theβ-thalassemia carrier couples, the sensitivity was 100.00%(27/27);the specificity was 95.55%(12 667/13 257);the positive predictive value was 4.38%(27/617);and the negative predictive value was 100.0%(12 667/12 667). (6) The PS strategy detected 28 fetuses who needed β-thalassemia prenatal diagnosis in 13 369 offsprings. (7) For the SSC strategy, the sensitivity was 93.80%(590/629); the specificity was 95.75%(12 117/12 655); the positive predictive value was 52.30%(590/1 128); and the negative predictive value was 99.68%(12 117/12 156). When the SSC strategy was used for the husbands, the sensitivity was 92.28%(526/570); the specificity was 95.27%(12 112/12 714);the positive predictive value was 46.63%(526/1 128); and the negative predictive value was 99.64%(12 112/12 156). (8) When the SSC strategy was used inβ-thalassemia carrier couples, the sensitivity was 100.00%(27/27);the specificity was 91.69%(12 156/13 257);the positive predictive value was 2.39%(27/1 128);and the negative predictive value was 100.00%(12 156/12 156). (9) The SSC strategy detected 28 fetuses who neededβ-thalassemia prenatal diagnosis. Conclusions All the three β-thalassemia prenatal screening strategies had good effect in clinical practice and public health. While in the high-prone area of β-thalassemia, MCV/MCH with Hb A2 parallel screening and MCV/MCH with Hb A2 serial screening for couples stratigies were better.

Objective: To investigate the current status of reproductive health among the female medical staff in a provincial maternal and child health hospital and analyze the occupational influencing factors for reproductive health, particularly the effects of high-intensity work, work shift, chemical poisons, and physical and biological factors on reproductive health, and to provide a scientific basis for developing related intervention measures and promoting the reproductive health of professional females. Methods: A reproductive health questionnaire was designed in terms of age, type of work, professional title, education level, working hours, working strength, and the reproductive health of female staff to analyze the current status of reproductive health, working strength, and occupational hazardous factors. The female medical staff in the provincial maternal and child health hospital completed the questionnaire on the internal network of the hospital voluntarily. Results: Of all respondents, 19.46% had a history of miscarriage, 5.90% visited the hospital due to infertility, 21.31% had irregular menstruation within the last 3 months, and 30.57% had reproductive system disease; 72.28% of the investigated medical staff often worked at night, 47.25% often worked overtime (more than 3 days a week) , and 22.27% worked over 8 hours daily. The respondents who often worked overtime had a significantly higher prevalence of reproductive system disease than those who did not often work overtime (χ²= 58.65, P<0.01) . The respondents who often worked at night had a significantly higher rate of miscarriage than those who did not work at night (χ²=41.57, P<0.01) . In all respondents, 87.08% were often exposed to chemical injuries such as disinfectants, and 78.15% had contact with noise, radiation, and other physical injuries; the medical staff exposed to chemical and physical injuries had a significantly higher proportion of individuals with a history of miscarriage than the unexposed staff (χ²=10.04, P<0.01; χ²=13.30, P<0.01) . Conclusion Much attention should be paid to the reproductive health of female medical staff in the provincial maternal and child health hospital, who have high working strength. The occupational hazard factors can be avoided by reasonably arranging the work schedule and creating a supportive environment to improve the reproductive health of female medical staff.

OBJECTIVETo investigate the association between rs185983011 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) of apolipoprotein B mRNA editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide-like 3G (APOBEC3G) and the susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B.

METHODSThe blood samples were collected from 186 healthy subjects and 159 patients with chronic hepatitis B. The rs185983011 SNP was detected and genotyped by sequencing with Sanger's method to analyze the relationship between rs185983011 SNP and chronic hepatitis B.

RESULTSOnly C/C and C/T genotypes of the alleles of rs185983011 SNP were found in the tested subjects, and the C/C genotype was predominant (97.7%). The distribution frequencies of rs185983011 SNP genotypes and alleles showed no significant difference between healthy subjects and patients with chronic hepatitis B (P>0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe predominant genotype of rs185983011 SNP of APOBEC3G is C/C in the tested subjects, and rs185983011 SNP does not appear to associate with the susceptibility to chronic hepatitis B.

APOBEC-3G Deaminase ; Adult ; Alleles ; Case-Control Studies ; Cytidine Deaminase ; genetics ; Female ; Genetic Predisposition to Disease ; Genotype ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; genetics ; Humans ; Male ; Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide ; Young Adult