Haemoglobin K Woolwich (alpha 2, beta 2 132 lysine leads to glutamine) in Ghana.

Abstract

A fast moving haemoglobin, K Woolwich, was found in patients admitted to Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, and in members of 2 tribes which live in different regions of Ghana and differ linguistically and ethnically. Although haemoglobin K Woolwich is the third most common abnormal haemoglobin in Ghana, it has not yet been found except in these tribes. This is possibly due to the difficulty in detecting the haemoglobin variant in the presence of haemoglobin A. It would be interesting to examine the amino-acid sequence of cases of ‘haemoglobin K’ reported from other parts of West and North Africa, in order to determine whether they are cases of haemoglobin K Woolwich. This may throw light on genetic links and migration routes of tribes in West Africa.