What Type of Antigens Do We Have?

O blood type: (universal donor)
- no antigens (clear)

A blood type:

- A antigens

B blood type:

- B antigens

AB blood type:

- have A and B antigens

If you donate O to A, the antibodies from A will attack the O

If you donate A to O, they will mix because there are no antibodies in O to fight off A

A and B can both go into AB as well

If you are a positive, you have one more antigen

If you are a negative, you have one less antigen

Vocabulary:

• Antibody - a large, Y-shaped protein that help stop the infection from spreading further and help to eliminate the pathogen from the body
• Humoral immune system - mediated by macromolecules found in extracellular fluids such as secreted antibodies, complement proteins, and certain antimicrobial peptides
• Antigen - a substance that causes an immune system to produce antibodies against it
• Transfusion - to receive blood from someone else
• Blood type - A, B, AB, or O; based on the presence or absence of antigens
• Rhesus factor - an antigen that occurs in most primates, determines if blood type is positive or negative
• Agglutination - the clumping process that occurs if an antigen is mixed with its corresponding antibody
• Red blood cells - removes CO2 from body; made inside of bone marrow; hemoglobin (protein inside) carries oxygen
• Plasma - the colorless fluid part of blood, lymph, or milk, in which corpuscles or fat globules are suspended

Reflection:

Blue is type A, yellow is type B and the clear drop is Rh.

Abbey's finger was pricked and a drop of blood went into each blood type. If the blood and liquid clumped, that means that is her blood type.

For Abbey, the A type clumped as well as the Rh, which means she is blood type A Positive.

Patient	Antigen A Present	Antigen B Present	Rh Factor Present
Abbey	Yes	No	Yes

Questions:

1. The blood types in the Introduction are for red blood cells. There are other cell types in your blood though. What are the other cell types and do they have the same blood typing systems?
2. What blood type is needed for a transfusion for a Type O positive patient?
3. What would happen if someone was transfused with an incompatible blood type?

1 - There are red blood cells, white blood cells and plasma cells. They do not have the same blood typing systems.

2 - No blood types can be used for a transfusion for a Type O positive patient because the antigens in the other blood types will take over the Type O positive. 

3 - If someone was transfused with an incompatible blood type, the antigens would clash and one would take over the other, depending which blood types are combined. In other words, the transfusion wouldn't work.