Prevalence of Rh Antigens among voluntary blood donors in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract

Background: The Rh blood group system is the most polymorphic of the human blood groups and is the most clinically significant in transfusion medicine next to ABO system. The aim of the study was to find out the prevalence of 5 major types of Rh antigens in voluntary blood donors, to determine the Rh composition of the population in Chennai and to generate a database of donors for all future activities. Methods: This study was carried out over a period of 3 months from August 2015 to October 2015 on 100 healthy voluntary blood donors who attended the Department of Transfusion Medicine, The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University, Guindy, Chennai Tamil Nadu, India. Determination of Rhesus antigens (Rh) was done by the Hemagglutination test using the conventional tube technique. Results: Our study on prevalence of Rh antigens among voluntary blood donors showed D-91%, C-84%, E-25%, c-67%, e-98% and ‘e' (98%) was the most common antigen, followed by D (91%).Regarding predicted Rh phenotypes, DCe/DCe (R 1 R 1 ) 35% was the most common predicted phenotype and dce/dce (rr) 7% was the most common predicted phenotype among Rh negatives. DcE/DcE (R 2 R 2 ) 2% and dCe/dce (r'r) 2% were the rare predicted phenotypes observed in our study. Conclusions: This study helped us in establishing a database of donors for future preparation of indigenous cell panels and to provide antigen negative compatible blood to multi transfused patients with problems of alloimmunization.