Frequencies of major blood group antigens and phenotypes among blood donors in Aljouf, Saudi Arabia

Background: Blood group antigens are a representation of some personal traits. Objectives: To determine the frequency of ABO, Rhesus and Kell blood group phenotypes among blood donors in the Al-Jouf region, Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: 980 donors were included in retrospective study design. Data was collected from blood donor records from July 2022 to January 2023 at Al-Jouf Central Blood Bank. ABO, Rhesus phenotypes (D, C, E, e, c), and K antigen have been detected in the blood bank using the fully automated Bio-Rad IH-500. Results: Regarding the ABO system, the O phenotype was the most common among the donors (approximately 45.7%), and followed by A (25.4%) and B (24.9%), while the AB group had the lowest number (4%). Analysis of Rhesus blood group phenotypes demonstrated that 89.3% of donors were Rh D positive and 10.7% were Rh D negative. Other Rhesus antigens were found in variable percentages; the e antigen was the most prevalent among donors (99.2%),followed by the c and C antigens (72.7% and 69.2%, respectively), and the E antigen was the least prevalent (22.8%). Only 0.3% of donors were positive for Cw. Accordingly, the DCce phenotype (24.9%) was the most common Rh phenotype among donors, followed by DCe and Dce (22.8% and 20.2%,respectively). CE and CEe phenotypes had the lowest prevalence among donors(0.1%). Out of 980 donors, 178 donor (18.2%) had the Kell antigen (K). Conclusion: The most prevalent blood group among donors was O Rh D+ while the most prevalent Rhesus antigen was the e antigen. The most common Rhesus phenotype among donors was DCce. Reporting Rh phenotypes and Kell antigen (K) is extremely important from a clinical standpoint, especially during pregnancy and blood transfusions as it can improve maternal and fetal care and enhance safer blood transfusion.