Distribution of ABO and Rh (D) Blood Groups and their Genotypes in Amran Governorate, Yemen

Abstract

Background: The ABO and Rh blood group system is essential for blood bank inventory, blood transfusion services, and organ transplants. Relatively very little data is available about ABO and Rh (D) blood groups distributions in the Amran governorate. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the distribution of ABO and Rh (D) blood group and their genotypes in the Amran governorate, Yemen. Methods: A cross-sectional prospective and retrospective study was carried out from January 2020 to December 2021, on 1949 volunteer blood donors; 414 medical students were obtained from Amran University and 1535 from clinical records in the blood bank of Maternity and childhood hospital at Amran Governorate. The ABO and RhD grouping was done by using commercially available monoclonal antibodies (anti-A, anti-B, and anti-D) by slide methods. The allele and genotype frequency of the donors was determined by the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium assumption. Descriptive statistics were analyzed using the SPSS program. The difference between the observed and expected frequency was tested by an online Chi-square calculator. A P-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results:  Out of 1949 participants; were 78.8% of hospital donors, 92.2% of males, and 63.5% of rural areas. Blood group O was the most prevalent (51.2%), followed by A (31.5%), B (13.9%), and AB (3.5%) with statistically significant differences (P= 0.002). The Rh (D) positive was present in 86.8% of participants and 13.2% were Rh (D) negative. Moreover, the allele frequencies were in the order of (I^O > I^A > I^B > AB), where (I^O i = 0.513, I^A = 0.313, I^B = 0.138, and AB= 0.035). While the Rh(D) and d allelic frequencies were 0.868 and 0.132, respectively. Also, there was no statistically significant difference between observed and expected allele and genotype frequency (P-value >0.05). Conclusion: The frequency of distribution of ABO and Rh (D) blood group and their genotypes among the study population was found to be similar to those reported from most Asian populations. This crucial information may be helpful in planning for future health challenges, particularly planning with regard to blood transfusion services.