Organ Transplantation and ABO Blood Group System

choi

Steven Russolillo, My Wife's Mother Needed a Kidney; I Was a Match. Wall Street Journal, Nov 1, 2016.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/my-w ... -a-match-1477927687
("I decided to get tested to see if her mother and I were the same blood type, the first round in qualifying as a kidney donor. * * * I got the results back from my first round of tests. My blood type, A-positive, was compatible with Batya's [Batya BANJO is his mother-in-law]. I could go on to round two")

Note:
(a) ABO blood group system is carbohydrate (sugar) on the surface of many cells, not just on red blood cells, where Austrian physician Karl Landsteiner discovered the antigens in 1901, for which he alone was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1930. Somehow, humans develop antibodies in their first year on earth. These antibodies are IgM (five times as big as IgG), which can not cross through placenta into the fetus. ABO blood group system
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ABO_blood_group_system
("ABO blood types are also present in some other animals, for example rodents and apes, such as chimpanzees, bonobos, and gorillas; section 4 Genetics)
(b) Type A always have anti-B antibodies (though levels -- the medical term is "titer" -- vary among individuals of type A). Type B, anti-A antibodies. Type AB, no antibodies. Type O, both anti-A and Anti-B.
(c) Incompatible Blood Type Kidney Transplant. UCLA, undated
http://transplants.ucla.edu/site.cfm?id=327
("Until recently, we could not perform a kidney transplant unless both the kidney recipient and the donor had compatible blood types. * * * AB patients can get a kidney of any blood type [because they do not have anti-A and anti-B antibodies in their blood]. They are the universal recipient")

Quote: "In most cases, the level of antibody is treatable. The patient undergoes a two-step process to remove the blood group antibodies:

        • Desensitization: First, we remove existing blood group antibodies from your bloodstream using a process called plasmapheresis, which looks similar to dialysis. Generally, people have several sessions of treatment, depending on how much antibody you have.
        • Immune modulation: Second, we use intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) - a blood product containing the antibodies of thousands of people - and other medications to turn off the cells in your body from making more blood group antibodies.

This process usually takes about two to three weeks."
(d) Transplant Evaluation. In Kidney Transplant. UCSF, undated
https://www.ucsfhealth.org/condi ... lant/diagnosis.html
("The Rh type (+, -) is not a factor in donor matching")
(e) Remember the antigens are in many kinds of cells. Naturally ABO compatibility is not limited to transplantation of a kidney. Of a liver, too.

Liver Transplantation. John Hopkins, undated
www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthli ... _transplantation_85,P00677/
("The same immune reaction will happen if the blood contained within a donor organ enters an individual's body during a transplant")