ANTIBODY IDENTIFICATION

Introduction:

Once an antibody has been detected, additional testing is necessary to

identify the antibody and determine its clinical significance. The
patients serum or plasma is tested against additional RBCs
possessing known antigens. The test method used should be as
sensitive as that used for detection.

Patient History:

Information containing the patients age, sex, race, diagnosis,

transfusion
and
pregnancy
history,
medications,
and
intravenous solutions may provide valuable clues in antibody
identification studies, particularly in complex cases.
INFORMATION
RACE

TRANSFUSION AND PREGNANCY

HISTORY

CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Some antibodies are associated
in particular race.
Ex. Anti-U is more frequently
associated with persons of African
descents because most U-negative
individuals are found in this
population.
Exposure to non-self RBCs
can more likely to have
produced
immune
antibodies.

Naturally
occurring
antibodies (eg. anti-M, antiLeb) should be suspected to
patients with no transfusion
or pregnancy history.

Patients transfused within

3moths, a positive DAT
results
may
indicate
a
delayed
hemolytic
transfusion reactions.

Antigen-typing results must

be
interpreted
carefully
when patient has recently

received
transfusion,
because positive reactions
may
be
caused
by
the
presence of donor RBCs
remaining in the patients
circulation. Positive reactions
usually
show
mixed-field
agglutinations
but
do
depend on how recently the
transfusion was given.
MEDICATIONS

DIAGNOSIS

Medications such as IVIG,

RhIG, and antilymphocye
globulin
may
passively
transfer antibodies such as
anti-A, anti-B, and anti-D
and antispecies antibodies.
Some medication can cause
positive DATs.
Certain
infectious
and
autoimmune
disorders
are
associated with production of
RBC autoantibodies which
can cause positive DATs.

REAGENTS

An antibody identification panel is a collection of 11- 20 group O

RBCs with various antigen expression. The pattern of antigen
should be diverse so that it will be possible to distinguish one
antibody from the other and should include cells with homozygous
expression of Rh, Duffy, Kidd, MNSs antigens.

https://www.medialabinc.net/antibody-detection-and-identification.aspx

A profile sheet specifying the antigens on each cell and providing a

place to record reactions, + indicates antigen is present; 0
indicates antigen is not present.

As, with screen cells, the profile sheet is lot-specific and should not
be interchanged with that of another panel. The profile sheet will
often indicate the presence of rare cells, which are positive for lowprevalence antigens or negative for high- prevalence antigens.