K. Vasantha

A profile of rare bloods in India and its impact in blood transfusion service

From transfusion point of view, a rare blood is the one which lacks a high-frequency antigen as well as the one who lacks multiple common antigens and such blood donations help in transfusion to those recipients having alloantibodies to corresponding antigens. In India, we have about four such kinds of phenotypes potential enough to pose problems in providing blood to the recipients having these phenotypes. Besides, there are other four kinds of rare bloods that pose seldom problems in blood supply, though some of these may cause problems in interpretation of results on assigning proper blood groups for a person.

Partial matching of blood group antigens to reduce alloimmunization in Western India

Red blood cell alloimmunization occurs due to the genetic disparity of red cell antigens between donor and recipient. In the present study, we report a spectrum of red cell alloantibodies characterized in patients with different clinical conditions in a reference center in India. Majority of the antibodies identified were against the blood group antigens c, D, E, M, N, S, s and Jka. Hence, apart from ABO and RhD, we recommend partial antigen matching between donor and patients for other Rh (C, c, E, e) and MNS blood group antigens to potentially reduce the risk of alloimmunization by 75%. Matching of Kell antigen is not recommended in Western India.

Antigen negative red blood cell inventory of Indian blood donors

BACKGROUND Screening the donor population for clinically important antigens and creating a database of phenotyped donors will eliminate the tedious task of large scale screening for antigen negative units. The aim of the present study is to identify donors lacking common antigens and a combination of common antigens to establish an antigen negative inventory. MATERIALS AND METHODS Blood samples of 1221 regular blood donors were phenotyped for the clinically important common antigens of the Rh, Duffy, Kell, Kidd and MNS blood group systems using standard tube technique. RESULTS Out of 1221 total donors tested, we observed that 261 donors lacked a combination of clinically important common antigens (C, D, e, Fya, Jka, s). After excluding the RhD negative donors in this study 15.56% lacked a combination of two or three common antigens. Of all donors, 3.2% lacked Fya and Jka antigens, 1.96% Fya and s, 1.88% Jka and s antigens and 0.57% lacked three common antigens. DISCUSSION An antigen negative inventory of donors who lack a single common antigen or a combination of common antigens was prepared from regular donors which will prove useful for efficient management of transfusion therapy in patients with multiple antibodies against common antigens.

Bombay phenotype in Orissa: What could we make out of it?

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