This document discusses blood banking reagents used in immunohematology laboratories. It describes the basic principles of testing, sources of antigen and antibody, and routine tests like ABO typing and antibody screening. The document outlines the four main categories of reagents - red blood cells, antisera, antiglobulin reagents, and potentiators. It also discusses quality control of reagents and different testing methods including tube, gel, and solid-phase techniques.
NOTE: Antigens are on the RBCs; antibodies are in the antisera.
Antibody identification is a procedure that determines the identity of an RBC antibody detected in the antibody screen by reacting serum with commercial panel cells.
Crossmatching is a procedure that combines donor RBCs and the patient’s serum to determine the serologic compatibility between donor and patient.
A hybridoma is a hybrid cell formed by the fusion of a myeloma cell and an antibody-producing cell; it is used in the production of monoclonal antibodies.
This textbook adopts AABB terminology and refers to the determination of an individual’s ABO type, not ABO group.
Differential DAT is an immunohematologic test that uses monospecific anti-IgG and monospecific anti-C3d/anti-C3b reagents to determine the cause of a positive DAT with polyspecific antiglobulin reagents.