<it>RHD </it>allele distribution in Africans of Mali

• Main Authors: Moulds Joann M, Wagner Franz F, Tounkara Anatole, Kouriba Bourema, Flegel Willy A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2003-09-01
• Series: BMC Genetics
• Subjects: Rhesus; Rh; partial D antigen; red cell antigen; <it>RHD </it>gene; genotyping
• Online Access: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2156/4/14

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Aberrant and non-functional <it>RHD </it>alleles are much more frequent in Africans than in Europeans. The <it>DAU </it>cluster of <it>RHD </it>alleles exemplifies that the alleles frequent in Africans have evaded recognition until recently. A comprehensive survey of <it>RHD </it>alleles in any African population was lacking.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We surveyed the molecular structure and frequency of <it>RHD </it>alleles in Mali (West Africa) by evaluating 116 haplotypes. Only 69% could be attributed to standard <it>RHD </it>(55%) or the <it>RHD </it>deletion (14%). The aberrant <it>RHD </it>allele <it>DAU-0 </it>was predicted for 19%, <it>RHDΨ </it>for 7% and <it>Ccde</it>^{<it>s </it>}for 4% of all haplotypes. <it>DAU-3 </it>and the new <it>RHD </it>allele <it>RHD</it>(L207F), dubbed <it>DMA</it>, were found in one haplotype each. A PCR-RFLP for the detection of the hybrid <it>Rhesus box </it>diagnostic for the <it>RHD </it>deletion in Europeans was false positive in 9 individuals, including all carriers of <it>RHDΨ </it>. Including two silent mutations and the <it>RHD </it>deletion, a total of 9 alleles could be differentiated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Besides standard <it>RHD </it>and the <it>RHD </it>deletion, <it>DAU-0</it>, <it>RHDΨ </it>and <it>Ccde</it>^{<it>s </it>}are major alleles in Mali. Our survey proved that the most frequent alleles of West Africans have been recognized allowing to devise reliable genotyping and phenotyping strategies.</p>