The MNS blood group system in Tunisian blood donors: common and rare alleles.

Background: The MNS blood group system is highly complex and characterized by the presence of major polymorphic antigens, namely MNS1/MNS2 and MNS3/MNS4. This study aims to examine the genetic basis of the common MNS antigens in Tunisian blood donors and discussed their importance in transfusion immunology.

Methods and results: A group of 229 Tunisian blood donors were genotyped for the major alleles GYPA*01, GYPA*02, GYPB*03 and GYPB*04 using the SSP-PCR method. A specific GYPA region was sequenced in some subjects to examine if there is a rare allele. The statistical analysis was done using the HaploView Software. The molecular analysis showed that 4 blood donors are probably carrier of a rare GYPA allele. Furthermore, it appeared that the GYPA*01 and GYPB*04 alleles; and the GYPA*01-GYPB*04 haplotype are predominant in this series. As for the phenotype, the study showed that the MNS:1,2,-3,4 type is the most frequent in recruited blood donors.

Conclusions: Overall, the study showed a balanced distribution of the targeted alleles. Furthermore, the observed frequencies appeared to be in harmony with that reported in other populations. Considering the importance of these findings, we think that this work will be an important contribution to the field of public health and epidemiology.