Frequency Distribution of Blood Groups ABO, MN and Rh Factor in Philippine Cosmopolitan, Regional and the National Populations

  • Ruth Marian S. Guzman
  • Ricardo Noel R. Gervasio
  • Ian Kendrich C. Fontanilla
  • Ernelea P. Cao

Abstract

Frequency distribution of blood groups is important as it is used in modern medicine, genetic research, anthropology, and tracing ancestral relations of humans. Blood groups include the ABO, Rh and the MN red cell antigens. The frequency distribution of these three blood groups were obtained and assessed for differences from three populations: (1) a regional population from the town of Cabagan located in Isabela province; (2) a cosmopolitan population from the University of the Philippines’ roster of students; and (3) the national population’s data obtained from blood banks all over the Philippines. This study sought to determine the frequency distribution of ABO, MN, and Rh factor blood groups to establish whether there exist differences in distribution among the three population categories. Standard blood agglutination sampling was conducted in these populations to determine blood types. Chi-square tests on the genetic frequencies reveal that there is no significant difference in the distribution of blood groups ABO and Rh. The blood group MN, however, displayed twice as many M blood type in the regional population than in the cosmopolitan population. This suggests a localized segregation of alleles responsible for the MN blood type within distinct populations in the Philippines. Computation of the allelic frequencies also revealed that both populations are not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium based on the distribution of the different MN blood types.

Published
2010-09-29
Section
Articles

Keywords

genetic frequencies, ABO, MN, Rh factor, Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium