ABO blood group in Kuwaitis: detailed allele frequency distribution and identification of novel alleles.
BACKGROUND
The ABO blood group is clinically the most important blood group system and can now be genotyped easily by DNA-based methods without family studies.


METHODS
Samples (n = 166) from a Kuwaiti population were phenotyped by standard serologic techniques for the ABO blood group and genotyped for the ABO locus by an established multiplex polymerase chain reaction protocol followed by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. Nonstandard SSCP patterns were investigated by DNA sequencing of exons 6 and 7 and, if necessary intron 6.


RESULTS
Standard SSCP patterns identified six classical alleles in this population: A101 (0.1115), A102 (0.0181), A201 (0.0301), B101 (0.1627), O101 (0.3103), and O201 (0.2500). One A, 1 B, and 8 O variant alleles were identified (total frequency, 0.1175). All variant alleles were each present in one or two chromosomes (< or =0.0060) in our samples except O109 (0.0813). Three of these 10 variant alleles were novel alleles defined by newly identified single-nucleotide polymorphisms in exon 7 (527G>A, 687C>T, and 1116G>A). One new base substitution result in amino acid change.


CONCLUSIONS
This is the first study reporting the detailed distribution of ABO alleles and genotypes in Kuwaitis. Sixteen alleles were identified, including 3 novel alleles.
Yip
Shea Ping
SP
Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong SAR, China. shea.ping.yip@polyu.edu.hk
Choi
Pik Shan
PS
Lee
Sau Yin
SY
Leung
Kim Hung
KH
El-Zawahri
Mokhtar M
MM
Luqmani
Yunus A
YA