Higher minor hemoglobin A2 levels in multiple sclerosis patients correlate with lesser disease severity

Muhammed Emin Ozcan,1 Bahri Ince,2 Hasan Huseyin Karadeli,3 Asuman Gedikbasi,4 Talip Asil,3 Meric A Altinoz5 1Department of Neurology, Biruni University, 2Centre for Mood Disorders, Bakirkoy Research and Training Hospital for Psychiatry, 3Department of Neurology, Bezmialem University, 4Department of Biochemistry, Sadi Konuk Bakirkoy State Hospital, 5Department of Immunology, Experimental Medicine Research Institute (DETAE), Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey Objective: To define whether minor adult hemoglobin A2 (HbA2, α2δ2) exerts any protective activity in multiple sclerosis (MS). Methods: HbA2 levels were measured in 146 MS patients with high performance liquid chromatography and association with MS Severity Scores (MSSS) were determined. HbA2 associations with blood count parameters were also studied using blood counts evaluated on the same day of high performance liquid chromatography sampling. Routine biochemical parameters were also determined to rule out elusively influential factors, such as anemia and thyroid disorders. Results: HbA2 levels negatively correlated with MSSS (Spearman correlation, R: -0.186, P=0.025). Exclusion of confounding factors with a generalized linear model revealed an even stronger negative correlation between HbA2 and MSSS (P