PHENOTYPIC FREQUENCIES OF ABO AND RH(D) BLOOD GROUPS AMONGST HEALTHY BLOOD DONORS IN BIKANER, RAJASTHAN

Abstract

Background & Objective: Practically, most important blood groups are A, B, O, AB and RhD(+/-), which are essential for right blood supply to the recipients and in various studies. The incidence of ABO and Rhesus (Rh) groups varies markedly in different parts of the world and in different races. The present study was aimed at determining the prevalence of ABO & RhD blood groups among healthy blood donors in Western Rajasthan.

Material and Methods: At our centre, all the healthy blood donors were assessed and analyzed for ABO-Rh blood grouping during a period of previous 4 years (from January, 2015 to December, 2018). 119200 samples were checked for ABO and RhD blood grouping by manual saline antigen-antibody agglutination method using commercially prepared antisera antiA, antiB, antiAB, antiD, in house prepared reagent cells Acell, Bcell, Ocell and negative control. The results were reconfirmed on fully automated immunohematology analyzer (Galileo Neo, USA) with direct hemagglutination micro-well plates using antiA, antiB, antiD series-5, antiD Novaclone, Monoclonal control, Acell, Bcell and Ocell provided by the manufacturer. Discrepant samples were cross checked separately by column agglutination technique using DG Gel ABO/Rh-2D cards (Diagnostic Grifols S.A.) and tube technique.

Results: We found that the most common blood group was B+ 39758 (33.35%) followed by O+, A+, AB+, B-, O-, A- and AB-. RhD negative donors were 10504 (8.81%) among the total donors. Phenotypic frequencies were expressed under the standard assumption of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium.

Conclusion: Present study concludes that the most common ABO phenotype found among healthy blood donors in Western Rajasthan (India) is group B with RhD negativity being 8.81%. Larger studies should be conducted to calculate antigenic, phenotypic and allelic frequencies in general population.

Keywords: ABO-RhD blood group, Phenotype, Allele, Blood donors, hemagglutination.