First investigation of RH gene polymorphism in patients with sickle cell disease and associated blood donors in Cameroon, Central Africa

Jeanne Manga (1) , Messina Mbeti , Caroline Bénech (2, 3) , Françoise Ngo Sack (4) , Estelle Wete , Hortense Ngegni Pangetha , Simon Noël Ateba , Jules Tchatchueng , Alexandre Njan Nloga , Yann Fichou (2, 3) , Jeanne Manga Messina

1 Centre Pasteur du Cameroun
2 EFS
3 GGB - Génétique, génomique fonctionnelle et biotechnologies (UMR 1078)
4 Hematology service

Although genetic polymorphism of the RH blood group system is well known in sub-Saharan Africa, national/regional specificities still remain to be described precisely. For the first time in Cameroon, Central Africa, and in order to better characterize the molecular basis driving RH phenotype variability, as well as to identify the main antigens that may be potentially responsible for alloimmunization, we sought 1) to study the RH genes in a cohort of 109 patients with sickle cell disease; 2) to study the same genes in the corresponding donors whose red blood cells (RBCs) were transfused to the patients (108 donors in 98 patients); 3) to predict RH phenotype on the basis of the molecular data and compare the results with serologic testing; and 4) to identify retrospectively patients at risk for alloimmunization.

Keywords: epidemiology genetics RH antigen sickle cell disease variant; epidemiology; genetics; RH antigen; sickle cell disease; variant

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Jeanne Manga, Messina Mbeti, Caroline Bénech, Françoise Ngo Sack, Estelle Wete, et al.. First investigation of RH gene polymorphism in patients with sickle cell disease and associated blood donors in Cameroon, Central Africa. Blood Transfusion, inPress, ⟨10.2450/BloodTransfus.660⟩. ⟨hal-04503247⟩