Blood group diversity in Borneo

Abstract Background Protein and glycoprotein antigens on the surface of red blood cells are encoded by highly polymorphic genes in human nuclear genomes. Allelic variants of the blood group genes are known to be distributed differently across populations. Consequently, they are widely used for ancestral analyses and for designing donor recruitment strategies. In Malaysia, blood group allele frequency population data are available for many population groups in Peninsular Malaysia, but not for those from Sabah and Sarawak of Borneo. Thus, this study contributes to a wider systematic collection of blood group data and expands the range of analyses. Aim This study determined the allele frequencies of nine clinically significant blood group systems (Kell, Kidd, Duffy, MNS, Dombrock, Colton, Lutheran, Cartwright and Vel) in the Bajau, Kadazan-Dusun, Murut and Melanau populations of Borneo. Results Many of the blood group systems examined here are polymorphic in the Bajau, Kadazan-Dusun, Murut and Melanau except for Kell, Colton, Lutheran, Cartwright and Vel. Population data mapping shows that these four populations are more closely related to other Austronesian populations, than other linguistically and historically unrelated population groups in Malaysia and elsewhere. Conclusions In this study, we have successfully typed variants that determine Kell, Kidd, Duffy, MNS, Dombrock, Colton, Lutheran, Cartwright and Vel blood group systems in the samples collected from unrelated Bajau, Kadazan-Dusun, Murut and Melanau individuals of Borneo. Many of these blood group systems were observed to be polymorphic in these populations. These findings are similar to those reported for other population groups in Peninsular Malaysia. Clinical complications that are more likely to arise in these people (gestation and transfusion alloimmunizations as well as risk to diseases) should be considered by health practitioners, healthcare providers and healthcare policy makers based on our observations. Graphical abstract