Abstract
BACKGROUND: Lutheran and Dombrock are two blood group systems with low immunogenic antigens; they can cause mild-to-moderate transfusion reactions. For both, immunophenotyping is not performed in the pretransfusion routine in Brazil. In addition, the distribution of their antigenic frequencies is an important marker of ethnicity. Thus, the goal of this study was to carry out the genotyping of the LU*01, LU*02, DO*01 and DO*02 alleles of the Lutheran and Dombrock blood group systems in blood donors from the southwestern region of the state of Paraná, Southern Brazil. METHOD: Genotyping was performed for 251 blood donors by specific allele-polymerase chain reaction. The genotype and allele frequencies were obtained through direct counting and compared with other Brazilian populations using the chi-square test with Yates correction. RESULTS: The distribution of genotype frequencies for LU were 0.4% for LU*01/LU*01, 6.8% for LU*01/LU*02 and 92.8% for LU*02/LU*02 and for DO, they were 19.9% for DO*01/DO*01, 44.6% for DO*01/DO*02 and 35.5% for DO*02/DO*02. The allele and genotype frequencies of LU and DO were similar to those expected for Caucasians, but the DO*01/DO*01 genotype frequency was different to other Brazilian populations. The rare LU*01/LU*01 genotype was found in a loyal blood donor. CONCLUSION: The genotyping techniques allowed the evaluation of the LU*01, LU*02, DO*01 and DO*02 alleles in blood donors registered in the Hemotherapy Center of the southwestern region of Paraná, Southern Brazil, and contributed to a genotyped blood donor database.