GSTM1 and thalassemia: This is consistent with prior research on α-globin deletions in homozygous Hb E patients, showing significantly lower Hb E levels in those with the α0-thalassemia (SEA-type deletion) trait (87.8 ± 5.2) compared to those without the α0-thalassemia trait (92.35 ± 2.2) [24].