Blood Types

• Blood Type A

• Blood Type B

• Blood Type AB

• Blood Type O

Structure of blood

• On the surface of most red blood cells, there are surface antigens

  • Type A RBC’s have A antigens

  • Type B RBC's have B antigens

  • Type AB RBC’s have A and B antigens

  • Type O RBC’s have no antigens

• Between RBC’s, there are typically antibodies floating in the plasma

  • Type A RBC’s have Anti-B antibodies

  • Type B RBC’s have Anti-A antibodies

  • Type AB RBC’s have no antibodies

  • Type O RBC’s have Anti-A and Anti-B antibodies

• The Rh factor is the presence of a protein on the RBCs of some people

  • A + Rh factor means that the protein on the RBC is present

  • A - Rh factor means that the protein on the RBC is not present

Methodology

• Blood typing:

  • The mechanism of blood typing is through observing for the presence of agglutination

    • Agglutination is the clumping of blood

  • Blood is mixed with anti-serum for that specific type

    • Ex: If Anti-A serum is mixed with blood type A, the blood will agglutinate

      • This is because the Anti-A serum has A antibodies that attach to A antigens if they are present

    • Anti-D (or Anti-RH) serum determines whether the blood has a + or - Rh factor

Uses

Determining compatibility of…

• organ donors and recipients

• blood donors and recipients