Hemoglobin Lepore syndrome

Hemoglobin Lepore syndrome (Hb Lepore) is a kind of blood disorder that is caused by a genetic mutation. It was first found in an Italian-American family named Lepore. When a genetic mutation runs in families it is known as a trait.

When two genes, the delta and beta globin gene loci become crossed or mixed-up a mutation happens which causes the Hb Lepore trait.

The Hb Lepore trait is found worldwide and may affect people of various races, however the three main kinds of Hb Lepore, usually affects Caucasians of the Southern regions of Central and Eastern Europe.

There are three main kinds of Hb Lepore are named for the areas they were first found in, with various subtypes, the three main kinds are:

• Washington (Hb Lepore Washington, also known as Hb Lepore Boston or Hb Lepore Washington-Boston); most common in Italians from Southern Italy
• Baltimore (Hb Lepore Baltimore); first described in a family with African ancestry; most common in people from the Balkan countries, Albanians Croats, Serbs, Slovenes and Romanians. It has also been described in Turks and in regions of Spain and Portugal. A rare case of the Baltimore variety was discovered in an African American woman in the Bronx, New York and dubbed Hn Lepore-Bronx and another variety was discovered in the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada and dubbed Hb E-Lepore Saskatoon
• Hollandia (Hb Lepore Hollandia); identified in Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh.