Hemoglobin fractionation by Sebia Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing System as primary method for evaluation of hemoglobinopathies

Background: Hemoglobin fractionation by capillary zone electrophoresis (CE) is becoming a popular method for the identification of hemoglobin variants that can cause hemoglobinopathies. The goal of this study was to compare the performance of capillary electrophoresis using Sebia Capillarys 2 Flex Piercing system (CE-S) with high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) using Primus Ultra2 Resolution Variants System (HPLC-P) as a primary method in hemoglobinopathy work-up.

Methods: A total of 306 blood specimens submitted for evaluation of hemoglobinopathies were studied using HPLC-P and CE-S.

Results: The reference ranges for Hb A, A₂ and F agreed well between methods. All common variants containing Hb S and Hb C were detected by both methods. Quantification of Hb A₂ with HPLC-P required a correction in the presence of Hb S, while quantification of Hb A₂ was slightly overestimated by CE-S in the presence of Hb C. Of 41 samples containing other variants, 2 were not identified by HPLC-P and 3 were not identified by CE-S.

Conclusion: CE-S provides comparable information to that obtained by HPLC-P and it is a reliable primary method for the evaluation of hemoglobin variants.