Homework SourseIf you accidentally gave someone with type A blood a transfu
If you accidentally gave someone with type A blood a transfusion of type B blood, they would have a serious reaction as their anti-B antibodies responded to the foreign cells. What is a plausible reason why someone who had never previously been exposed to type B blood would have sufficient levels of anti-B antibodies for this response to occur?
| 1. Natural killer cells are responsible for destroying the incompatible blood cells; they recognize the lack of the normal antigen and attack for that reason. |
| 2. There are bacteria that have antigens that have similar epitopes (the part of the antigen that interacts with an antibody). As a result, the A or B antigens are treated as known antigens rather than as completely novel antigens. |
| 3. Responding to foreign blood is part of innate immunity; people are born with the correct memory cells to mount a response because this is adaptive and ABO blood types have existed for so long. |
| 4. In the presence of a sufficiently strong antigen, a secondary immune response can occur on the first exposure to an antigen. |
Solution
Correct answer is option 2. There are bacteria that have antigens that have similar epitopes (the part of the antigen that interacts with an antibody). As a result, the A or B antigens are treated as known antigens rather than as completely novel antigens.
Different types of blood groups is due to the difference in the carbohydrate moitey on the surface of rbc. These sand moiteys may be present on various bacterial cells too. Our immune system gets primed initially and reacts quickly when incompatible blood is transfused.
