Molecular study of C /C antigens and frequency of Rh phenotypes in southeast Brazilian blood donors.

BACKGROUND

The C (RH:8), C (RH:9), and MAR (RH:51) antigens are encoded by alleles at the Cc locus of the Rh system, where C and C are considered low-frequency antigens and antithetical to the high-frequency antigen MAR. The frequency of C (RH:8) is approximately 2% in Caucasians, 1% in Black people, 4% in Finns, and 9% in Latvians. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of RhD+ phenotypes in a population of southeast Brazilian blood donors and to perform a molecular study to distinguish the RHCECe.08.01 and RHCECe.09 alleles, responsible for the C and C expressions, respectively.

METHODS

We investigated 11,536 RhD+ Brazilian blood donors. All samples were phenotyped for D, C, c, E, e, and C . In the C + samples, a molecular analysis was performed to detect the nucleotide substitutions A122G and G106A, which determine the C and C antigens, respectively.

RESULTS

C antigen was found in 110 (0.95%) samples in the following phenotypes: DC e/dC e (72/0.62%), DC e/DC e (30/0.26%), and DC e/DC E (8/0.07%). Among 110 C + samples, 108 showed the A122G nucleotide substitution associated with RHCECe.08.01 allele and 2 samples the G106A substitution associated with the RHCECe.09.01 allele.

CONCLUSION

This study showed the prevalence of the RhD+ phenotype in the Brazilian population, and that through the molecular study, it was possible to differentiate the RHCECe.08.01 and RHCECe.09.01 alleles. The phenotype frequency was similar from Black people (1%) and different from Caucasians, Finns, and Latvians.