Two patients with α-chain hemoglobin variant Hb Q-Iran detected by measuring hemoglobin A1c using the variant mode of the HA-8180V HPLC analyzer

Hemoglobin variants are often discovered when hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels measured with a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system in fast mode are found to be low. The HA-8180V HPLC analyzer by Arkray offers two measurement modes: fast mode (FM) and variant mode (VM). Two Japanese patients with α-chain variant Hb Q-Iran detected incidentally after analyses with the HA-8180V in VM showed an abnormal peak, are presented. The first patient was a man in his 70 s, and the second patient was a man in his 50 s. Both were non-diabetic, but their results from HbA1c measurement in VM showed an abnormal peak. The VM–HbA1c, FM–HbA1c, and HbA1c measured by enzymatic assay and glycated albumin levels of the two patients were all within the reference ranges. They were diagnosed as having Hb Q-Iran (α2-75Asp → His) by globin gene analysis. It is difficult to detect α-chain hemoglobin variants based on abnormal FM–HbA1c levels, but measuring HbA1c in VM is useful for efficiently detecting hemoglobin variants.