Transitioning a multiethnic donor pool from serologic D-negative to molecularly RHD-negative at a hospital-based blood donor service.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Some individuals carry a very low expression of the D-antigen, called a Del phenotype. Red cell units from such blood donors with DEL alleles are RhD protein-positive, despite being routinely labelled D-negative. Molecular typing offers a more sensitive method to identify Del individuals by detecting the presence of the RHD gene. Pools of 20 or more donor samples are routinely screened for the RHD gene in some, mostly European, donor populations.

Methods

A modular real-time PCR assay targeting RHD intron 4, exon 5, and exon 7 was developed for individual testing. We screened for the RHD gene among all blood donors who typed D-negative in routine serology.

Results

Over 15 years, 2254 D-negative donors were individually tested for the RHD gene. With a sensiti

SUBMITTER: Flegel WA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12180192 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature