Frequencies of ABO and Rhesus blood groups antigens and phenotypes among ALhalfaween Sudanese ethnic group

Abstract

This community-based, prospective and analytical study was aimed to determine the frequencies of ABO & Rhesus blood group antigens and phenotypes among Halfaween tribe. The study also aimed to establishing ABO& Rhesus blood group baseline data for this tribe and compare it with other Sudanese tribes. This study was conducted in different parts of Khartoum state during the period of three months, following informed consent, a total of one hundred venous blood samples were collected from unrelated individuals into 2.5 mls EDTA containers. The red blood cells (RBCs) were tested for ABO antigens by the slide agglutination techniques & common Rhesus antigens by the Particle gel immune- diffusion .Seventy (70) specimens were tested by the slide agglutination techniques. The alleles and frequencies were determined. The antigen O was the most common antigen among the study group (45%), followed by B (21%), A (13%), and the least common antigen was AB (3%). The ē, c and the D genes were the commonest alleles detected with frequencies of 98%, 91% and 87% respectively. The C allele and the E genes were the least frequent with 57% and 8.0% frequencies respectively. Similarities between ALhalfaween and some Sudanese populations and differences with others were noticed. The study revealed that there was no relation between the frequency of common Rhesus antigens and that of ABO blood group antigens.