Determining the FY*BES Allele in Iranian Sickle Cell Disease Patients to Enhance Matching Blood Transfusion

<b>Background:</b> Duffy antibodies play a significant role in hemolytic transfusion reactions and hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn, Duffy(<i>FY</i>) blood group genotyping an essential part of transfusion medicine. The purpose of this study was to assess the importance of Duffy (<i>FY</i>) DNA typing in conducting transfusion compatibility testing and improving Red Blood Cell matching during transfusion. <b>Materials and Methods:</b> In this study, 135 blood samples from SCD patients from the Southwest of Iran were included. All samples were tested with Anti-Fya and Anti-Fyb using the hemagglutination technique, and 64 samples with the fy(a+b-) and fy(a-b-) phenotypes were genotyped using DNA sequencing methods. <b>Results:</b> The prevalence of alloimmunization in this population was 13.04%. fy(a-b+) was the most common phenotype (37/135, 27.4%), followed by fy(a+b-) (35/135, 26%), fy(a+b+) (34/135, 25.2%); and fy(a-b-) (29/135, 21.4%). Among the 64 fy(a+b-) and fy(a-b-) samples, 40 (62.5%) patients had <i>FY*BES</i> allele. 21 out of 40 samples were <i>FY*BES/FY*BES</i>, 17 were <i>FY*A/FY*BES</i>, and 2 were <i>FY*B/FY*BES</i>. <b>Conclusion:</b> The prevalence of GATA-1 mutation (<i>FY*BES</i> allele), in fy(a-b-) and fy(a+b-) patients was reported 62.5%. Therefore, it is possible to use the genotypic information as a database to facilitate the process of searching and supplying better-matched blood transfusion.