Assessment of ABO, Rhesus, and Kell Blood Group Antigens, Phenotype, and Their Allelic Frequencies in Voluntary Blood Donors

Dharshan HD; Pradeep Rudramurthy; Hafsa Saif; Poornima Raghunathan; Hemalata Lokanath; Sanjay KS

doi:10.21276/apalm.3452

Authors

Dharshan HD Department of Pathology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bengaluru, India
Pradeep Rudramurthy Department of Pathology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bengaluru, India
Hafsa Saif Department of Pathology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bengaluru, India
Poornima Raghunathan Department of Pathology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bengaluru, India
Hemalata Lokanath Department of Pathology, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bengaluru, India
Sanjay KS Department of Pediatrics, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bengaluru, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21276/apalm.3452

Keywords:

ABO, Rhesus, Kell, Alleles, Phenotypes

Abstract

Background: The Rhesus system is clinically the most important blood group system next to the ABO system. Even after proper blood grouping and cross-matching, there is a possibility of alloimmunization in recipients against Rh or minor blood group antigens like Kell, MNS, Duffy, etc. The determination of the prevalence of Rh antigens can play a major role in preventing alloimmunization and adverse events in multi-transfused recipients.

Materials and Methods: This study was conducted at the Department of Transfusion Medicine, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Bangalore, in 1,000 voluntary blood donors who were tested for red cell antigens of ABO, Rh (D, C, c, E, e), and Kell (K) blood group systems using column gel agglutination technology.

Results: The most common blood group was O (41.1%), followed by B (28.9%), A (23.6%), and AB (6.4%). Rh (D) positivity was 93.9%, while Rh (D) negative blood donors accounted for 6.1%. Among other Rh antigens, the most common antigen found was "C" (82.5%), followed by "e" (77.3%), "c" (49.3%), and "E" (36.2%). The prevalence of the "K" antigen was 0.2%. The most frequent Rh phenotype was "DCe" (30.8%), followed by "DCce" (23.4%), "DCE" (12.5%), "DCcEe" (5.9%), and "Dce" (4.8%).

Conclusion: Assessment of ABO and Rh (D) antigen status is routinely performed in all blood centers. However, phenotypic profiling and assessment of allelic frequencies help in evaluating the distribution of antigens in voluntary blood donors and, at the same time, assist in estimating the chances of obtaining compatible blood units for multi-transfused patients who have developed antibodies.

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