Prevalence of HPLC-Detected Hemoglobin Patterns and ABO/Rh(D) Blood Group Distribution Among Male Blood Donors at Al-Gumhouri Teaching Hospital, Sana’a, Yemen
Keywords:
Blood donors, Hemoglobinopathies, Sickle cell trait, β-thalassemia trait, HPLC, YemenAbstract
Background: Inherited hemoglobin disorders remain common across the Middle East; however, contemporary donor-based data from Yemen are limited. Characterizing HPLC-detected hemoglobin patterns together with ABO/Rh(D) blood group distribution may provide valuable information for local blood bank planning.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 339 apparently healthy male blood donors attending the blood bank of Al-Gumhouri Teaching Hospital, Sana’a, Yemen, between 11 May and 5 June 2024. ABO and Rh(D) blood groups were determined using the standard slide agglutination method. Hemoglobin concentration was measured photometrically, and hemoglobin variants were identified by cation-exchange HPLC. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the findings, and the Fisher-Freeman-Halton exact test assessed the association between age group and hemoglobin phenotype.
Results: Most donors exhibited a normal HPLC hemoglobin pattern. An HbS-containing HPLC pattern consistent with sickle cell trait was detected in 16 donors (4.72%), whereas an elevated HbA2 screening pattern suggestive of β-thalassemia trait was identified in 4 donors (1.18%). Variant HPLC patterns were more frequently observed among donors aged 20–29 years, although this finding should be interpreted cautiously because adjusted analyses accounting for potential selection factors were not feasible. The ABO/Rh(D) distribution was dominated by O+, followed by A+. RhD-negative phenotypes accounted for 7.37% of donors.
Conclusion: HbS-containing HPLC patterns and elevated HbA2 screening patterns were detected in a minority of eligible male blood donors. These facility-specific findings should not be generalized to the wider population. Larger multicenter studies including female donors and molecular confirmation are needed to better define the epidemiology of inherited hemoglobin disorders in Yemen.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Amro Abdullah Alhamli, Naif Mohammed Al-Haidary, Salah Mansour Ali Al-Aghbri, Khaled Abdulkarim Al-Moyed (Author)
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