Gassner Christoph, Scherer Vanessa, Zanolin-Purin Daniela, Scharberg Erwin A, Flesch Brigitte
Institute for Translational Medicine, Private University in the Principality of Liechtenstein, Triesen, Liechtenstein.
German Red Cross Blood Service Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, Bad Kreuznach, Germany.
Transfus Med Hemother. 2022 May 5;49(6):358-367. doi: 10.1159/000524249. eCollection 2022 Dec.
Gerbich-negative phenotypes of the Gerbich Blood Group System (ISBT 020) are very rare (with the exception of Papua New Guinea). The Gerbich-negative phenotypes Yus and Gerbich are negative for the antigens Ge2, and Ge2 and Ge3, respectively. In antigen-negative individuals, anti-Ge2 and anti-Ge3 antibodies can be naturally occurring, or are triggered during pregnancies and after transfusions. Previous studies suggested an elevated frequency of Gerbich-negative phenotypes for the Middle East. In the summer of 2015, a large-scale migration of people from the Middle East to Europe occurred raising the issue of question how to guarantee blood supply for patients and manage antenatal care for pregnant women from these countries.
To investigate the frequency of rare Gerbich-negative phenotypes, 1,665 immigrants to Germany originating from the Middle East were genetically tested for the presence of rare Yus, i.e., *, and Gerbich, i.e., *, alleles and compared to results obtained from 507 Germans.
Seven Yus * and one Gerbich * alleles were exclusively observed among people from the Middle East, with five of them clustering among 797 Syrians. No such alleles were observed in Germans. A cumulative Yus- and *type allele frequency of 0.00314 and resultant overall Gerbich-negative phenotype frequency of one among 101,633 Syrians were calculated.
This manuscript describes for the first time an exclusively genetic screening for carriers of Gerbich-negative alleles. In conclusion, the Gerbich blood group system should be considered as one causative agent of unusual antibodies to red cell antigens, in routine patients and pregnant women, especially when originating from the Middle East.
格尔比奇血型系统（国际输血协会020）中的格尔比奇阴性表型非常罕见（巴布亚新几内亚除外）。尤斯和格尔比奇这两种格尔比奇阴性表型分别对Ge2抗原以及Ge2和Ge3抗原呈阴性。在抗原阴性个体中，抗Ge2和抗Ge3抗体可能是天然存在的，或者在怀孕和输血后被激发。先前的研究表明中东地区格尔比奇阴性表型的频率有所升高。2015年夏天，大量中东民众向欧洲迁移，引发了如何保障这些国家患者的血液供应以及如何管理这些国家孕妇的产前护理等问题。
为了调查罕见的格尔比奇阴性表型的频率，对1665名来自中东的德国移民进行基因检测，以确定是否存在罕见的尤斯（即*）和格尔比奇（即*）等位基因，并与507名德国人的检测结果进行比较。
仅在中东人群中观察到7个尤斯和1个格尔比奇等位基因，其中5个聚集在797名叙利亚人当中。在德国人中未观察到此类等位基因。计算得出叙利亚人累积的尤斯和*型等位基因频率为0.00314，由此得出每101633名叙利亚人中总体格尔比奇阴性表型频率为1/101633。
本论文首次描述了针对格尔比奇阴性等位基因携带者的专门基因筛查。总之，在常规患者和孕妇中，尤其是来自中东地区的患者和孕妇中，应将格尔比奇血型系统视为红细胞抗原异常抗体的一个致病因素。
