Distribution of ABO blood groups and rhesus factor in Southwest Saudi Arabia.
OBJECTIVE
To document the distribution of the ABO and rhesus (Rh) blood groups in a random sample of Saudi students from the King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to compare our results from that of other studies in the Kingdom and elsewhere.


METHODS
The subjects included in this study were 944 males from the southwest region of Saudi Arabia including Aseer, Jizan, and Najran regions. The ABO blood groups and Rh factor from 944 Saudi males were determined. The frequency of ABO blood groups and Rh status were calculated separately. This study was carried out at King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January to March 2008, and the ethical approval was obtained from the Research Ethical Committee, College of Science, King Khalid University.


RESULTS
The frequencies of ABO groups showed 56.8% for group O, 33.4% group A, 6% group B and 3.8% group AB trend. Only 7.2% of them were found to be Rh-negative.


CONCLUSIONS
The frequencies of ABO and Rh phenotypes in the southwest population of Saudi Arabia are similar to those reported in most areas of the Arabian Gulf region.
Sarhan
Mohammed A
MA
Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, King Khalid University, PO Box 9004, Abha 61413, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. mohammed_sarhan@yahoo.com
Saleh
Kamel A
KA
Bin-Dajem
Saad M
SM
D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D006801:Humans; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System / Q000032:analysis*; D012529:Saudi Arabia
D000017:ABO Blood-Group System; D012204:Rh-Hr Blood-Group System