Erythrocyte polymorphisms in five ethnic groups of Northern Côte d'Ivoire.

Distribution of some erythrocyte polymorphisms was investigated in five Northern Côte d'Ivoire ethnic groups. For the ABO blood group system, the frequencies of alleles p, q and r were 0.119, 0.150 and 0.731, respectively, while the frequencies of alleles D and d of the Rh blood group system were 0.726 and 0.274, respectively. These values are consistent with published data, while the high incidence of HbAS genotype could result from microevolutionay trends acting on this relatively small population. No 27-bp Southeast Asian ovalocytosis gene deletion was found in the sample.