Question

A person with blood group ‘A’ can donate blood to the persons with blood group ‘AB’ because it
A) Has both ‘A’ and ‘B’ antigens.
B) Has only ‘A’ antigen and ‘B’ antibodies.
C) Has only ‘B’ antigen and ‘A’ antibodies.
D) Does not have any antigens and antibodies.

Answer 1

Hint: It is the most uncommon type of blood is blood type AB. If an individual has blood type AB, donors that have blood types AB, A, B, or O may receive blood.

Complete answer:
- Blood classification is based on the lack or presence of antigens, which are immune response-initiating compounds. Healthy blood transfusions typically rely on thorough and accurate typing and crossmatching of blood since certain antigens can stimulate the immune system of the body to target the donated blood.
- The absence or presence of two antigens (A and B) on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs) is determined by four main blood groups and they are A, B, AB, O blood groups.
- The way of moving blood into an intravenous ( IV ) line and into the blood vessels is blood transfusion. During surgery or in critical accidents, a blood transfusion is normally performed to replenish blood loss.
- Blood from donors is typically combined with the recipient's blood to confirm blood match. This testing of pretransfusion is called crossmatching. Crossmatching, however, cannot always be practised, particularly in emergency scenarios.

Now, let us find the solution from the options-
- Individuals who adhere to the blood group AB have both A and B antigens on the RBCs surface, but their blood plasma does not include both A and B antibodies. Due to presence of A and B antigens in individuals having AB blood groups, they may not refuse either blood type (A.B or O).
- Individuals that adhere to blood group A have A antigens on their RBCs' surface and in their blood plasma B antibodies are present. Therefore, the option (B) is incorrect.
- Individuals that adhere to blood group B have B antigens on the surface of their RBCs and in their blood plasma A antibodies are present. Therefore, the option (C) is incorrect.
- AB blood groups have antigens but do not have antibodies. Therefore, the option (D) is incorrect.

Thus, the correct answer is option (A) Has both ‘A’ and ‘B’ antigens.

Note: On the surface of the red blood cells, type O blood lacks antigens. This ensures that, since there is no antigen to respond towards, our immune system will not respond to the blood. Similarly, on the outside of the blood cells, Rh negative blood lacks the Rh antigens, but once again there are no proteins to respond against our immune system. This absence of antigens means that in people of any blood type, type O blood can be transfused; thus, this blood group is referred to as universal blood donor.