The Duffy Blood Group Genotypes in Asian Populations

Lim, Chae Seung; Kim, Young Kee; Lee, Kap No

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Duffy phenotypes vary widely among different ethnic groups and populations from distinct locations. Several assays for genotyping Duffy blood groups have recently been developed, and PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) is the most widely used method for human Duffy blood group typing. In this study, we employed PCR-RFLP and analyzed the genotypes of Duffy blood groups among five Asian populations including a Korean population.
METHODS
Two-hundred-fifty-four peripheral blood samples were collected from different Asian populations. PCR was performed by using primers designed for the amplification of the GATA and FYAB regions of the Duffy gene. The restriction enzymes Sty I and Ban I were used for the digestion of PCR products and the DNA products were separated on agarose or polyacrylamide gels stained with ethidium bromide.
RESULTS
The genotype frequencies of FY*A/FY*B, FY*A/FY*A, FY*B/FY*B, FYnull in the Korean population were 14.2%, 84.9%, 1%, 0% respectively. The frequency of the Duffy genotype of Thai, Chinese and Pilipino populations were similar to that of the Korean population. However, a population from Bangladesh had a high FY*B frequency (43.4%) as compared to the other Asian populations.
CONCLUSION
Among the five Asian populations analyzed, the Duffy genotype for a Bangladesh population is different from the East Asian populations. This finding may reflect a history of human migration of ancient Asian populations.