Hemoglobin is the molecule responsible for carrying and transporting oxygen to all cells of the body. At the same time, it transfers carbon dioxide from the cells to the lungs. Hemoglobin consists of a mixture of hemi, iron and gluten, which is four peptide molecules, each molecule has the ability to carry one oxygen atom. The hemoglobin molecule then transmits four oxygen atoms. Normally, red blood cells will contain seven types of hemoglobin, four of them during the embryonic stage and three in adulthood and in this article we will talk about the types of hemoglobin and the composition of each type and diseases associated with hemoglobin types.
Types of Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin in the embryonic stage
- At the beginning of the age of the embryo after fertilization of the egg and the fertilized eggs’ hemoglobin Gower1 is the hemoglobin formed in the fetus and the highest ratio, and the peptide chains are two of zeta and two of Epsilon symbolized by ζ2ε2.
- Hemoglobin Gower2, which consists of two series of alpha and two series Epsilon, symbolizes ζ2γ2, and its amount of the blood of the fetus is less than Gower 1.
- Hemoglobin Portland II is a symbol of ζ2β2, which consists of two series of Zeta and two series gamma.
- After the end of the eighth week of pregnancy, the baby’s body begins to stop the manufacture of embryonic hemoglobin, and begins to manufacture Hbf. This type of hemoglobin which consists of two series of alpha and two series of gamma, symbolized by α2γ2. This is because the fetus is growing and needs a higher amount of oxygen, and this species has a higher ability to bind oxygen than the previous species.
Hemoglobin in childhood and puberty
Hemoglobin Hbf remains in the fetus’s blood after birth until the age of about six months, after which the bulk of this type gets replaced with hemoglobin for adults. There are two types of adult hemoglobin:
- Hemoglobin A, which has the highest percentage of adult blood compared with other species, accounts for 97% of adult hemoglobin, consisting of two alpha series and two beta series, symbolized by α2β2.
- Hemoglobin A2, which consists of two alpha series and two delta series and symbolizes α222.
- Adult blood normally has a small percentage of Hbf.
Diseases associated with hemoglobin types
Because hemoglobin is composed of gluten, which is a protein, it is possible to get genetic mutations in them, and result in these mutations change in the form of hemoglobin produced, and the most prominent genetic diseases associated with the type of hemoglobin:
- Hemoglobin S Hbs, one of the most prominent hereditary hemoglobin types present in patients with anemia is sickle cell.
- Hemoglobin C Hbc, a type of hemoglobin transmitted by heredity and reported a breakthrough in the amino chain A.
