Red blood cell alloantibodies in healthy egyptian blood donors

ABSTRACT

Background: Alloantibodies are antibodies that are produced in response to foreign antigens, the main stimuli responsible for erythrocyte alloantibodies in healthy adult donors are previous pregnancies and transfusions. Red blood cell [RBC] alloantibodies, especially IgG class, are clinically significant because of the association with hemolytic disease of newborns [HDN], hemolytic transfusion reaction [HTR] and a significant reduction in lifespan of transfused red blood cells. It has been stated that hemolytic reactions due to erythrocyte alloantibodies in donor blood is a relatively rare occurrence; however, they can occasionally cause severe transfusion reaction, particularly if given to infants and in the setting of massive transfusion