Determining the Genotype of the RH Blood Group System in Maltese Blood Donors

Aims: The Rh blood group system is a complex protein based system having the D, C, c, E and e as the most immunogenic antigens. This blood group system has a vital role in transfusion medicine thus by DNA typing, important medical issues in transfusion practice can be resolved when serological techniques fail. The aim of the study was to determine the frequency of the RH genotype in the Maltese blood donors using molecular techniques.

Methodology: 797 blood donor samples were enrolled in this study. An allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR) method was used to determine the presence of RHD, RHCE*E and RHCE*e, while multiplex PCR was used to test for RHCE*C/c.

Results: Out of 797 samples studied, the most common allele was RHCE*e with a percentage of 98. The most common genotype in RhD positive samples was DCcee and in RhD negative samples, the most common was dccee. The most frequent haplotype was DCe.

Conclusion: Like in previous studies, this research also concludes that the distribution of the RH genotype varies in different geographical areas. Further studies working with larger sample size and better techniques would share better light on the molecular function of these loci.