Phenotype-Genotype Correlation in β-Thalassemia

The clinical manifestations of β-thalassemia are extremely heterogeneous, ranging from severe transfusion-dependent anemia, to the mild non transfusion dependent thalassemia intermedia and to the asymptomatic carrier state. The remarkable phenotypic variability is primary due to variations in the different globin genes (primary gene modifiers). The main pathophysiological determinant of the severity of β-thalassemia syndromes is the extent of α/non-α globin chain imbalance. Therefore, any factor capable of reducing the globin chain imbalance may have an ameliorating effect on the clinical picture. The most common mechanisms responsible of the amelioration of the phenotype are mild or silent β thalassemia alleles, coinheritance of α thalassemia, or of genetic determinants associated with increased γ globin chain production. Rarely, other complex mechanisms including dominantly inherited β thalassemia, somatic deletion of β globin gene and coinheritance of extra α globin genes with heterozygous β thalassemia have been reported. In addition to the variability of the phenotype resulting from primary gene modifiers, other genetic factors (secondary gene modifiers), mapping outside the β and α globin cluster, may influence the disease complications. Among these factors the ones best so far defined are those affecting bilirubin, iron and bone metabolism. However, the new methods of DNA analysis (i.e., GWAS and related methods) are expect expand the number of genes or gene variants involved in the phenotypic variability and in the response to treatment of β thalassemia.