Gene frequency of human platelet alloantigens‐1 to ‐6 and ‐15 in Saudi blood donors

Abstract

Studying the prevalence of HPA antigens in Saudi population will help in the understanding of its role in platelet-related disorders. It will also enable the blood bank to establish an HPA-based donor registry that will be a valuable source of compatible platelet-therapeutic products to alloimmunised patients. This will also enhance the safety and efficacy of platelet transfusion. This data obtained will form an addition to the existing body of literature in transfusion research.

The future of voluntary blood donation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…In the face of this situation, there is a lack of accurate accumulated figures for the blood transfusion activities in the KSA, and it is therefore left to individual HBBs to keep its own records and analyze them and draw lessons that may help framing the future of transfusion service in that HBB. This approach has proved to be extremely valuable for us at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) blood bank and was the basis for numerous publications that offered a glimpse of various aspects of the transfusion practice in the KSA . The fragmented and predominantly hospital‐based blood banking transfusion service in KSA is of course a big contrast to the more efficient, unified, and less costly transfusion service offered by the American Red Cross in the United States, or the national services in Canada and the United Kingdom.…”

“…This approach has proved to be extremely valuable for us at King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH) blood bank and was the basis for numerous publications that offered a glimpse of various aspects of the transfusion practice in the KSA. [7][8][9][10][11][12] The fragmented and predominantly hospital-based blood banking transfusion service in KSA is of course a big contrast to the more efficient, unified, and less costly transfusion service offered by the American Red Cross in the United States, or the national services in Canada and the United Kingdom.…”

Human platelet antigen 1-6, 9 and 15 in the Iranian population: An anthropological genetic analysis

“…Contrary to other HPAs, in which the most frequent allele found is "a", in the case of HPA15, the most common allele is "b" and, accordingly, the highest frequency of "ab" and "bb" genotypes appears in the latter HPA. The "bb" genotype rates in HPA15 in all the populations under study are proved to be lower than those of the Iranians, except for Burmese population 16 , with 39%, and the Saudi Arabs 29 , with 30% of the homozygous genotype of allele "b". Inversely, the "aa" genotype frequency in HPA15 in the Iranian population is lower than the other nations.…”

“…The only HPA with "b" allele but no "bb" genotype is HPA1, indicating that all "b" alleles are in the heterozygous form. This pattern can also be seen in most East-Asian countries [15][16][17][18][19][20] , though not common among Europeans [21][22][23][24] , Africans [25][26][27] , and other people in the Middle-East [28][29][30][31] . It is noteworthy to mention that, among the 36 populations studied, the Pygmies and Japanese showed merely "a" allele and "aa" genotype in HPA1 26,32 .…”

“…Inversely, the "aa" genotype frequency in HPA15 in the Iranian population is lower than the other nations. However, those of Saudi Arabia (20%) and German Turkish (20%) populations show an "aa" frequency of only 1% lower than the Iranians 23,29 . This might be indicative of a slight drift from allele "a" to allele "b" in HPA15 among the Iranian population.…”