Blood Typing

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