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Bad_DNA t1_irjr2ai wrote

Reply to comment by rmlmr-98 in When did blood type AB first evolve? by Novel_Estimate_3845

Um... usually if a recipient gets a unit or more of mismatched blood, they won't fair well at all. Immune-suppression drugs might help - but I'd think the risk of infection would counter this 'technique' for blood infusion. Look into RhoGAM treatment with pregnancies for some interesting side notes.

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Catsnotrats t1_irkuri1 wrote

Immunosuppressant drugs aren't used for the treatment of AHTRs. The antibodies are already present and acting, which is the issue.

A patient's blood is grouped and then screened for 'clinically significant' antibodies to many of the common red cell antigens. (There are tons more than ABO/RhK) Antigen negative blood is provided dependent on the outcome of the antibody screen/panel. A patient that has a positive antibody screen also has to have all units fully crossmatched against their plasma before provision.

It's a different story for solid organ transplants, they have a ton more testing requirements e.g. HLA typing and also require immunosuppression.

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