Objective    To search and analyze the DNA methylation-related genes of β-thalassemia by oligonucleotide microarray in order to explore a new method for early diagnosis of β-thalassemia.     Methods    The cord blood samples of 2 children with β-thalassemia and 2 health children were detected by a chip containing human DNA methylation 30 178 oligonucleotide probes. The chip results were verified by the methods of methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and real-time PCR. The statistical significance of differentially expressed genes was found on non-supervised clustering (Hierarchical clustering).     Results    A total of 209 genetic differences (ratio≥2.0 or≤0.5) were showed by 2 groups of chips

and of them 113 genes were up-regulated and 96 genes were down-regulated. The results showed that the methylation-related gene erythroblastic leukemia viral (v-erb-a) was of hypermethylation compared with the normal blood.     Conclusion    A large number of differentially expressed genes are screened out by the technology of High-throughput DNA methylation of the gene chip in thalassemia. The DNA methylation-related gene of v-erb-a is of hypermethylation in thalassemia. Our methods offers a new idea and approach for prenatal diagnosis for thalassemia by the DNA methylation-related microarray.