Molecular Immunohematology in Ethiopian Sub-Populations

Alloimmunization to blood products in transfused patients is a recognized management challenge in the clinical setting. In particular the ethnic and racial specificity of RBC antigens and the limited availability of matched healthy volunteer blood donors have intensified the dilemma. The presence of low prevalence clinically significant RBC antigens among minorities account for the higher rate of alloimmunization observed in patients from this group. This is partly due to the racial and ethnic differences between the blood donor and recipient populations in the U.S. The increasing number of new Ethiopian-American immigrants in the US presenting to the health care system with blood transfusion requirements makes understanding the unique transfusion needs of this minority population imperative. Although the majority of African Americans claim origin to West Africa, Ethiopians, being from East Africa, represent a rapidly growing population in the United States. Furthermore, identifying genetic similarities and disparities to their West African counterparts will certainly have clinical implications in terms of transfusion support and disease modifiers. This additional information would help in understanding the natural history and transfusion requirements of certain debilitating diseases, such as Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), which are known to occur more commonly in African Americans. Identifying ethnically and racially similar individuals could assist in recruiting healthy volunteer donors with similar RBC antigen profiles potentially supplementing the rare donor pool. Although extensive archeological and sporadic serologic RBC antigen studies have been conducted in Ethiopia, there are no population wide RBC antigen molecular studies. Our study population is selected by altitude and migration history. Ethiopia, being in close proximity to the Red Sea in the northeast, Indian Ocean in the southeast and the rest of Africa in the south/west has diverse population. The st