Ovalocytosis spherocytic

Spherocytic ovalocytosis (or elliptocytosis) occurs in polymorphic frequency in aborigines of Malaysia and Melanesia. The morphologic change in the red cells was apparently responsible for a previously described depression of blood group antigens e.g., Gerbich blood group, which was also thought to be recessively inherited. More recently it has been found a structurally and functionally abnormal band 3 protein in Southeast Asian ovalocytosis. The abnormal protein binds tightly to ankyrin, thus leading to increased rigidity of the red cells, and in some way is responsible for the resistance of the red cells to invasion by malaria parasites.

Synonym: Southeast Asian ovalocytosis (SAO)