School of Pharmacy

Physiology SMS0183
Lab Report 4

Cardiovascular System-The Blood

Name : Chua Pei Yong

ID No : 012009050785

Programme: Diploma in Pharmacy

Semester :1

Lecturer : Ms. Norazebah Hamidon

Date of Submission: 2nd September 2009.

Title: Cardiovascular System-The Blood

Objective : To investigate the blood group type and its properties such as antigen and the
antibody of the blood.

Introduction: Blood type tests are done before a person gets a blood transfusion and to check a
pregnant woman's blood type. Human blood is typed by certain markers (called
antigens) on the surface of red blood cells. Blood type may also be done to see if
two people are likely to be blood relatives.

The most important antigens are blood group antigens (ABO) and the Rh antigen.
Therefore, the two most common blood type tests are the ABO and Rh tests.

ABO blood group test

The ABO test shows that people have one of four blood types: A, B, AB, or O. If
your red blood cells have:

• The A antigen, you have type A blood. The liquid portion of your blood (plasma or
antibody) has antibodies that fight against type B blood.

• The B antigen, you have type B blood. Your plasma has antibodies that fight against
type A blood.

• Neither the A nor B antigen, you have type O blood. Your plasma has antibodies that
fight against both type A and type B blood.

• Both the A and B antigens, you have type AB blood. Your plasma does not have
antibodies against type A or type B blood.

Materials: Lancets, cotton wools, toothpicks, anti-A serum, anti-B serum, anti-AB serum,
antisera Rhesus factor, blood of the subject, 70% alcohol, blood chart.

Procedure:

1. The finger of the subject was wiped with 70% of alcohol using cotton wool.
2. The finger was poked with lancet to extract the blood out.
3. The bloods were put at the blood chart for each column and the finger was cleaned with
cotton wool soaked with 70% of alcohol.
4. The anti-A serum, anti-B serum, anti-AB serum, antisera Rhesus factor was put at the
respective column using a dropper.
5. The blood and serum were mixed together using a toothpick. The agglutination of the
bloods were observed if present.
6. The chart were shaked for a while to ensure that the mixture blended well.
7. The chart were observed and recorded.

Result:

The subject and Anti-A Anti-B Anti-AB Antisera Rhesus

serum

Asmaa No coagulate Coagulate No coagulate No coagulate

Syafiqah Coagulate No coagulate No coagulate No coagulate

Chua Coagulate Coagulate Coagulate No coagulate

Afifah No coagulate No coagulate No coagulate No coagulate

Farahana No coagulate No coagulate No coagulate No coagulate

Komalam No coagulate No coagulate No coagulate No coagulate

The subject Blood group Rhesus factor

Asmaa B Positive

Syafiqah A Positive

Chua AB Positive

Afifah O Positive

Farahana O Positive

Komalam O Positive

Discussion:
Asmaa blood group is B group which contains antibody A, antigen B, and positive Rhesus.
Syafiqah blood group is group A which contains antigen A, antibody B, and positive Rhesus.
Chua blood group is group AB which contains antigen A and B, no antibody, and positive
Rhesus. Afifah, Farahana, and Komalam blood group is group O which contains no antigen,
both antibody A and B, and also positive Rhesus.

Syafiqah which is blood group A can be determined when her blood alggutinate with anti-A
serum which is antigen A and antibody B. The blood do not react with Rhesus antisera which is
antigen D indicates that the blood is Rhesus positive. Asmaa blood group is B group which
reacts with anti-B serum while others do not have any reactions. The blood contains antigen B
and antibody A and the blood do not alggutinate which is Rhesus positive. If the blood
alggutinates, the blood is Rhesus negative. Chua blood group is AB group which contains both
antigen A and antigen B. It does not have any antibody. The blood do not react with Rhesus
antisera indicates that the blood is Rhesus positive. Farahana, Afifah, and Komalam are
belongs to blood group O which do not have any antigen but have both antibody A and antibody
B. Their blood did not alggutinate with the serum which is Rhesus positive.

The alcohol is used to clean the finger in order to kill all the bacteria at the skin surface. Rhesus
D antibodies are uncommon, so generally neither Rh-D negative nor Rh-D positive blood
contains anti-Rh-D antibodies. If a potential donor is found to have anti-Rh-D antibodies or any
strong atypical blood group antibody by antibody screening in the blood bank, they would not be
accepted as a donor (or in some blood banks the blood would be drawn but the product would
need to be appropriately labeled); therefore, donor blood plasma issued by a blood bank can be
selected to be free of Rh-D antibodies and free of other atypical antibodies, and such donor
plasma issued from a blood bank would be suitable for a recipient who may be RhD positive or
Rh-D negative, as long as blood plasma and the recipient are ABO compatible.

If the sample of unknown blood sample is tested, the blood agglutinates on the serum indicates
that this is the blood group that present in the blood sample. The blood which does not react
with the serum is not match or compatible with the blood gropus such as blood group O. this is
because blood group O do not contain any protein or antigen attached to the erythrocytes. The
diagram below shows the anti-D serum alggutinates because the blood and the solution are not
effective due to exposure of air for a long period of time.
Pictures of blood group ABO.

Importance of ABO blood groups in transfusions

An antibody can attach to several RBCs at once and bind them together. Agglutination is the
clumping of RBCs bound together by antibodies. In giving transfusions, it is very important that
the donor's RBCs not agglutinate as they enter the recipient's bloodstream.

For example, if type B blood (with B antigens) were transfused into a type A recipient (with anti-
B antibodies), the recipient's anti-B antibodies would immediately agglutinate the donor's RBCs,
causing a transfusion reaction where the agglutinated RBCs block small vessels and release
their haemoglobin (Hb) over the next few hours to days. This free Hb can block the kidney
tubules and cause death from kidney failure within a day or so. Therefore, a person with type A
(anti-B) blood cannot receive B or AB blood, a person with type B (anti-A) blood cannot receive
A or AB blood, and a person with type O (anti-A and ant-B) blood cannot receive A, B or AB
blood.

Type AB blood especially Rhesus negative is sometimes called the universal recipient because
it lacks both anti-A and anti-B antibodies, so it will not agglutinate donor RBCs of any ABO type.
Type O with Rhesus positive may sometimes be called the universal donor, because since there
is no "anti-O" antibody, recipients of any ABO type may receive type O blood.

Type O Type A Type B Type AB

RBC Antigen present None A B A, B
Plasma antibody present Anti-A, Anti-B Anti-B Anti-A None
Compatible donor RBC O O, A O, B O, A, B, AB
Incompatible donor RBC A, B, AB B, AB A, AB None

The Rhesus blood group

The Rhesus or Rh blood group is named after the rhesus monkeys in which they were first
discovered. Individuals either belong to the Rh-positive (Rh+) or Rh-negative (Rh-) Rhesus
blood group. People with the Rh+ blood group have D antigens on the surface of their red blood
cells, while Rh- individuals do not.

In contrast to the ABO group, anti-D antibodies that react against D antigens are not usually
present in the blood under normal conditions. They only form in Rh- individuals who are
exposed to Rh+ blood. If an Rh- receives an Rh+ transfusion, the recipient produces anti-D
antibodies. Since anti-D does not form instantaneously, there is little danger in the first
mismatched transfusion. However, because the recipient will now start producing anti-D, a
subsequent Rh+ transfusion could agglutinate the donor's RBCs.

Implications of Rhesus blood groups during pregnancy

A related condition can occur when a Rh- woman is pregnant with a Rh+ foetus. The first
pregnancy is generally uneventful since anti-D does not form right away, so that even if the
mother is exposed to Rh+ foetal blood via miscarriage or placental tearing at the time of birth,
there is no danger to her first Rh+ child. However, she does begin to produce anti-D antibodies
upon her first exposure to Rh+ foetal blood, although this does not occur instantaneously. If she
becomes pregnant again with a Rh+ foetus, her anti-D antibodies can pass through the placenta
and agglutinate the foetal RBCs. Agglutinated RBCs haemolyse (release their Hb), and the
baby is born with a severe anaemia called haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), which
may kill the infant or leave brain damaged.

HDN is relatively easy to prevent, while very difficult to treat. A Rh- mother is at risk of having a
Rh+ baby if the baby's father is Rh+. As a result, it is now common to give immune globulin at
28-32weeks gestation and at birth to any pregnancy involving a Rh- mother and a Rh+ father.
Immune globulin binds foetal RBC antigens so that they cannot stimulate the mother's immune
system to produce anti-D, hence preventing HDN.

Conclusion: There are four types of blood

group that are blood group A, B,
AB, and O. There is two types of Rhesus that are Rhesus positive and Rhesus
negative. The blood group and Rhesus factor must be determined first before any
blood donation or transfusion occurred so that the blood which is incompatible
cannot alggutinate and cause death to the person.

References:

1. 2006, The Principles of Anatomy & Physiology 11th Edition, Tortora G.J. & Derrickson B John
Wiley & Sons
2. 2006, Biology 7th Edition,Kenneth S. Saladin, Mc Graw Hill Publisher
3. 2007, Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology 5th Edition, Valerie C. Scanlon & Tina Sanders,
F.A. Davis Co.

4. http://answers.yahoo.com
5.
http://www.homehealth-uk.com/medical/bloodgroup.htm
6. http://www.nzblood.co.nz/?t=31