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correct terminology to describe D antigen


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Is Rh(D) a correct terminology to describe D antigen? I saw this notation time and time and make me wonder "why not Rh(C), Rh(E)..etc.." It does not seem to be fair that only the D antigen get this "Rh" terminology in front of the antigen but not the whole other 40+ antigens in the Rh system :angry::D

Edited by Bb_in_the_rain
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The correct terminology (according to Geoff Daniels, who was, for many years, the Chair of the ISBT Working Group on Red Cell Immunogenetics and Blood Group Terminology) is as follows:

The gene governing the expression of the antigen in RHD.

The protein, or carrier molecule, upon which the antigen is expressed is RhD.

The antigen itself is just D, with no brackets, and, as you say, no "Rh".

The bit about the "brackets" was confirmed many years ago now by Dr Patricia Tippett, who first put forward the (correct) theory that there are two RH genes - RHD and RHCE, but it was not in a peer-reviewed Journal, and I can no longer find my copy.

All that having been said, when the numerical nomenclature is used (e.g. for Rh29), then the "Rh" prefix is used, but this nomenclature is rarely used, except when using "computer-speak" for antigens and antibodies.

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