Rh Genotyping - Clinical Aspects

COTORRUELO C; BIONDI C; RACCA A

Encyclopedia of Medical Genomics and Proteomics

Taylor & Francis

Lugar: Nueva York ; Año: 2005; p. 1163 - 1167

The Rhesus blood group system is of clinical interest because it is involved in the pathogenesis of hemolytic disease of the newborn, hemolytic transfusion reactions, and some autoimmune hemolytic anemias. More than 48 different antigens have been serologically defined, making the Rh system the most polymorphic of all the erythrocyte blood group systems. There are five most frequently typed Rh antigens: C/c, E/e, and the D antigen, which is the most immunogenic, defining an individual as RhD-positive or RhD-negative. Classical hemagglutination used for Rh typing is still a powerful and practical technique, with specificity and sensitivity suitable for clinical applications, but has limitations. Molecular genotyping techniques such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) can be used to overcome some of these limitations and, in addition, to improve the current level of resolution.