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Abstract
Sickle cell disease is an inherited autosomal recessive disorder of the β-globin chain. In Palestine it is accompanied by a low level of Hb F (mean 5.14%) and a severe clinical presentation. In this study, 59 Palestinian patients, homozygotes for Hb S were studied for their haplotype background. Eight polymorphic sites in the β-globin gene cluster were examined. The Benin haplotype was predominant with a frequency of 88.1%, followed by a frequency of 5.1% for the Bantu haplotype. One chromosome was found to carry the Cameroon haplotype (0.85%). Three atypical haplotypes were also found (5.95%). Heterogeneity was observed in Hb F production, ranging between 1.5 and 17.0%, whereas the Gγ ratio was homogeneous among all haplotypes with a normal amount of about 41%. Our results are in agreement with previous reports of the Benin haplotype origin in the Mediterranean.