Natural anti-A and anti-B of the ABO system: allo- and autoantibodies have different epitope specificity

BACKGROUND: According to Landsteiner's law, alloantibodies are prevalent and autoantibodies are absent in the ABO blood group system. However, one study (Spalter et al., Blood 1999;93:4418‐24) has suggested that low‐affinity ABO autoantibodies, mitigated by anti‐idiotypic immunoglobulins are al...

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Published in:Transfusion (Philadelphia, Pa.) Pa.), 2012-04, Vol.52 (4), p.860-869
Main Authors: Obukhova, Polina, Korchagina, Elena, Henry, Stephen, Bovin, Nicolai
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ABO Blood-Group System - immunology
ABO system
Adult
Alloantibodies
Autoantibodies
Autoantibodies - immunology
Autoantibodies - isolation & purification
Blood group A
Blood groups
Carbohydrates
Chromatography
Disaccharides
Epitopes
fucose
glycoconjugates
Humans
Immunoglobulin G
Isoantibodies - immunology
Isoantibodies - isolation & purification
Lymphocytes B
Polysaccharides - metabolism
Sugar
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Summary:BACKGROUND: According to Landsteiner's law, alloantibodies are prevalent and autoantibodies are absent in the ABO blood group system. However, one study (Spalter et al., Blood 1999;93:4418‐24) has suggested that low‐affinity ABO autoantibodies, mitigated by anti‐idiotypic immunoglobulins are also prevalent, while another publication (Rieben et al., Eur J Immunol 1992;22:2713‐7) shows that humans do not have B‐lymphocytes capable of producing immunoglobulin G ABO autoantibodies. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: We used hapten‐specific chromatography to isolate allo‐ and autoantibodies from pools of A or B serum and then characterized the resultant antibodies against a wide range of ABO and related glycoconjugates. RESULTS: We found that the apparent autoantibodies are directed against blood group A or B disaccharides, without consideration for the presence of fucose, but requiring the absence of elongating sugar X in composition of Gal(NAc)α1‐3(Fucα1‐2)Galβ1‐X–terminated carbohydrate chain. In contrast, ABO alloantibodies required a minimum trisaccharide Gal(NAc)α1‐3(Fucα1‐2)Gal epitope and recognize the elongated type‐specific tetrasaccharides. Furthermore, alloantibodies appear to be a small set of specific yet crossreactive antibodies that detect all backbone types of A or B antigens, rather than being a collection of specific antibodies, each of which detects a different type of A or B antigen. CONCLUSION: Apparent ABO autoantibodies appear to have no natural human target.
ISSN:0041-1132
1537-2995
DOI:10.1111/j.1537-2995.2011.03381.x