Abstract
During routine high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) assay using TSKgel Glyco-columns (4.0 mm ID. x 15 cm, Tosoh Co., Tokyo, Japan) of the glycosylated Hb A1c of patients with diabetes mellitus, we encountered a 57-year-old Japanese female whose total hemoglobin (Hb) contained about 45% abnormal Hb fraction including Hb A1c. Isoelectrofocusing (IEF, pH range 6-9) of her hemolysate distinctly revealed an abnormal Hb band which had migrate to the anodic side of Hb A (Fig. 1). The primary structure of the abnormal 3 chain was a substitution consistent with the substitution of LysAsn at B132 by reversed phase HPLC of the tryptic digest and nucleotide sequencing of the B-globin gene. This is the first report of such a Hb variant (1) which has been named Hb Yamagata [Bl32(H10)Lys-Asn] after the prefecture in which the carrier lived. The structural analysis and functional properties of this Hb are described herein.