Transfusion - ABO Group Flashcards
What are ‘never events’?
Events that should never happen such as an ABO mismatch
A person should never be transfused the wrong blood group
ABO mismatches are nearly always due to wbits
Haemovigilence deems these ‘never events’
Talk about the severity of an ABO mismatch
Can be fatal -> as little as 50mls of ABO mismatched blood can cause a fatality
Leads to kidney failure and eventually death
What is different about group O antibodies compared to group A and B?
The group O antibodies (anti-A and anti-B) are both IgM and IgG
Group A and B only have IgM antibodies
Whaat is significant about having IgG antibodies?
IgG antibodies can cross the placenta
This can cause a positive DAT for a baby -> could be one of the reasons why we have such low expression of antigens as babies -> if mother is group O but baby is group A then maternal anti-A IgG will cross the placenta and coat foetal rbcs causing a positive DAT
What percentage of antigen expression do we have as babies?
Only 25% expression
Why is antigen expression so low after birth?
-> what is one of the reasons
Reduce the affects of maternal antiobdies if aby is ABO incompatible i.e. group O mother and group A baby, anti-A IgG crosses placenta and causes positive foetal DAT
What eould the outcome be if a person had an A allele on 1 of their chromosomes but an O allele on another chromosome?
Person will express A antigen i.e. they will be group A
What combination of parents could produce offspring of any ABO type?
AO and BO parents
What are the two main ways tha a group AB can occut?
AB is mostly often times due to the inheritence of one A allele on one chromosome and one B allele on another chromosome
AB can much less frequently be due to the inheritence of a cisAB allele i.e. an AB allele on the one chromosome
What antigen does the O allele code for?
The O allele doesnt coe for anything
O allele does not encode any additional antigen i.e. cells will just have H antigen
What is the H antigen?
The substrate on the red cell on which the A and B antigen are built on
How common is the H antigen?
Almost every single person has this
Very very rare to not have a H antigen
Only seen in certain families -> very few in Ireland
Talk about how Oh is inherited (Bombay phenotype)
Only really seen in families where there has been cousins married etc etc
There must be an initial mutation which results in a damaged H gene -> this is passed down to offspring
If two offspring marry their offspring will have a chance of inheriting two copies of the damaged H gene which will result in no H antigen being produced
Talk about anti-H antibody
A lot of people have a cold anti-H, its quiet common
It is often the cause of cold agglutinins
It is not clinically significant -> it is benign
Its only really seen below 30 degrees
Just have to warm up sample to reduce interference when ABO typing etc
Write about the historical background of the ABO blood group
Initially defined by Karl Landsteiner in 1901
- He defined the A, B and C (later renamed O) agglutination phenomena in normal human blood in 1901
Von Decasello and Sturli added the AB blood group in 1902
Both observed the predictable presence of antibody to the missing antigen
Thomsen et al extended the three allele theory to A, B, O to four -A1, A2, B and O
What did Karl Landsteiner do?
Defined three blood groups A, B and C
- defined A, B and C agglutination phenomena
When did Karl Landsteiner define the three ABO blood groups?
1901
Who were Karl Landsteiners students and what did they do?
Von Decastello and Sturli
They added a fourth group to the three system A, B, C group, later known as AB in 1902
Who were Karl Landsteiners students and what did they do?
Von Decastello and Sturli
They added a fourth group to the three system A, B, C group, later known as AB in 1902
In what year did Von Decastello and Sturli define the AB group?
1902
What further addition was made to the ABO blood group after the work of Landsteiner and his students?
In 1930 Thomsen et al extended the three alelle theory (A, B, O) to four (A1, A2, B and O)
When was the ABO system first put into use?
First put into use in 1917 in WWI
Used to transfuse battlefield casualities in France
This was also the first use of ‘banked’, preserved blod
All were group O donations -> only men transfused on battlefield so no maternal antibodies etc
On what chromosome is the ABO gene located?
Chromosome 9
On what chromosome is the H gene located?
Chromosome 19
In the ABO blood group, what genes are considered dominant vs recessive or silent
A and B genes are dominant i.e. if you have one copy you will express the antigen
O is recessive i.e. you need two copies to be group O
Say a little about ABO antibodies in general
IgM in group A, B and O but also IgG in group O
They are active at room temperature
They are potent activators of complement
They are clinically very significant
They are predictably present in the plasma of most individuals
At what temperature do ABO antibodies react best
4 degrees
-> if you have a weak reverse group it might be suggested to refrigerate the plasma for 30 mins and redo -> the reaction will usually increase from a 1+ to a 3+
What blood group system antibodies are activators of complement?
ABO
Duffy
Kidd
How frequent are ABO mismatches?
How do they come about?
Only about 8 or 9 mismatches a year in the UK
Only really seen with plasma products or WBITS
Why is it more common to see mistakes with plasma products?
Mistakes and confusion amongst clinical staff
e.g. Clinical staff understand group O- blood can be given to anyone so they attempt to give group O- plasma to a patient not understanding that it contains both anti-A and anti-B
e.g. A group B- patient requires platelets but no B- available, O- platelets given instead of A- platelets
What might be a telltale sign a person has high titre anti-AB?
Haemolysis
No normal reverse group reactions, just haemolysis
What is anti-A,B?
An unusual/rare antibody seen in some group O individuals
Its a single antibody that reacts with both the A antigen and the B antigen
It often reacts better with weak subgroups of A
What induces the production of anti-ABO antibodies and what is this mechanism called?
ABO anibodies are produced against gut flora through molecular mimicry
You produce antibodies against the gut flora that you do not have
What do the ABO alleles actually code for?
They code for the production of transferases
These transferases catalyse the addition of saccharides to a precursor material on the rbc
What term can be used to describe the sugars added on by the ABO alleles and why is this?
They can be described as immunodominant
This is because the additon of these sugars confer specific antigenic activity on the oligosaccharide chains -> not antigenic wihtout these sugars
e.g. fucose for the H antigen
What does the H locus encode?
An alpha1,2 fucosyltransferase caled FUT1
What does the H locus encode?
An alpha1,2 fucosyltransferase caled FUT1
What is the role of FUT1?
It creates ‘H’ active structures in erythroid tissues
What is the role of FUT1?
It creates ‘H’ active structures in erythroid tissues
What does the A locus encode?
alpha 1,3 N-acetylgalactosaminyl transferase
What does the A locus encode?
alpha 1,3 N-acetylgalactosaminyl transferase
What does the B locus encode?
An alpha1,3 galactosyltransferase
What does the B locus encode?
An alpha1,3 galactosyltransferase
What does the secretor gene encode?
An alpha 1,2 fucosyltranserase known as FUT2