(P-TS-20) Blood Groups Distribution and Gene Diversity of the ABO and Rh (D) among Blood Donors in Sudan

Background/Case Studies: ABO and Rhesus (Rh) are the most crucial blood group systems. Karl Landsteiner discovered ABO in 1900. The Rh system was discovered 40 years later by Landsteiner, Weiner, Levine, and Stetson. Red blood cell antigens determine ABO blood groups. A, B, AB, and O are ABO types; Rh-positive and Rh-negative are rhesus types. Blood group identification is crucial for managing blood banks and transfusion services to avoid serious reactions.

Study

Design/Methods:  The study included 7655 healthy blood donors from Sudan. The manual tube method was used to perform ABO and Rh (D) groupings on all donor samples. The frequency of ABO and Rh(D) blood groups was reported in numbers and percentages.

Results/Findings: The study revealed that type O is the most prevalent blood group in Sudan (53.14%), followed by A at 26.36% and B at 16.02%, with AB having the lowest prevalence at 5.46%; O > A > B > AB. Our study found that 91.44% of the donor population was Rh-positive, whereas 8.56% was Rh-negative. The I^A, I^B, and I^O allele frequencies were determined using the Hardy-Weinberg equation. The gene frequencies are calculated to be 0.1683 for I^A (p), 0.1072 for I^B (q), and 0.7289 for I^O (r). O (r) has the most value in Sudan, followed by A (p) and B (q); O > A > B. OO constituted 53.14% of the homozygous types, AA 2.83%, and BB 1.05%. The heterozygous types were 26.53% for AO, 14.97% for BO, and 5.46% for AB. For the Rh blood group, The gene frequencies are calculated to be 0.7074 for I^D (p) and 0.2925 for I^d (absence of D antigen)(q). the genotypic frequencies were DD = 0.5005, Dd = 0.4139, and dd = 0.0855.

Conclusions: The study is the first to give robust, detailed ABO gene frequency statistics and information on the distribution of ABO blood group Rh groups of various alleles in the Sudanese populations. The study's results contribute to the knowledge of Sudanese populations' genetic structure and gene frequency, which could have significant implications for managing the blood bank's inventory of future health issues and improving blood transfusion practice.