Determination of fetal hemoglobin by cation exchange liquid chromatography

A sensitive liquid chromatographic method for the analysis of the major component of fetal hemoglobin (HbF0) in blood using high-resolution strong cation exchange column is described. The imprecision of the method was assessed in 20 repeated assays of blood samples containing 0.67%, 0.97%, 2.2% and 3.3% of HbF0. Within-assay CVs were 5.0%, 2.8%, 1.8% and 1.5% and between-assay CVs 5.8%, 3.7%, 1.9% and 2.7%, respectively. The HbF0 concentration was stable in EDTA blood for at least 20 days at +8 degrees C and 3 days at +22 degrees C. Blood HbF0 levels (mean +/- S.D.) were 0.41 +/- 0.20% for 21 healthy males, and 0.48 +/- 0.19% for 22 healthy non-pregnant females. The method is simple and reproducible, and allows the sensitive determination of blood HbF0.