Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1997. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1992. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

Thesis (doctoral)--Lund University, 1992. / Added t.p. with thesis statement inserted.

Thesis--Copenhagen. / English summary: p. [138]-139. "Litteraturfortegnelse": p. [140]-148.

Thesis (M.Phil.) - University of Queensland, 2005. / Includes bibliography.

Antibody-mediated rejection is central to ABO incompatible transplantation as well as to xenotransplantation. The xenoantigen alpha-Gal has a highly analogous carbohydrate structure to the human blood group antigens, and both require memory B cell activation for antibody production. We hypothesize that B cells, reactive to the alpha-Gal xenoantigen and B blood group antigen, require the presence of fully activated T cells in order to survive and proliferate in vitro, contrary to the traditional theory that humoral response to carbohydrate antigens is a T cell-independent process. When we compared the capacity of B cells to proliferate, we observed that activated T cells were necessary for B cell proliferation even in the presence of carbohydrate-derived antigens. A relevant question was also to investigate the role of a specific class of T cells: the CD1d-restricted iNKT cells, in the activation of alpha-Gal and B blood group-reactive B cells. The iNKT cells have the specificity of being reactive to glycolipids and are capable of producing both T helper 1 and T helper 2 cytokine responses. We therefore wanted to determine the role of the iNKT cells as mediators of a T helper 2-type response when B cells were exposed to a glycolipid antigen expressing the alpha-Gal epitope or the human B blood group antigen. We observed that, if the interaction between B cells and iNKT cells is blocked, neither B cell proliferation nor antibody production occurs. These results suggest therefore the importance of the iNKT cell category of T helper cells in the response to alpha-Gal and ABO-blood group glycolipids.

No description available.

Alloresponses to blood group antigens result from antigen mismatch between donor and recipient during blood transfusion or transplantation and between mother and fetus during pregnancy. During pregnancy, antigen mismatch can result in haemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), a disease characterised by the development of potentially harmful alloantibodies, which cross the placenta and mediate the destruction of fetal erythrocytes. This project investigates examples of clinically important alloresponses to blood group antigens and, more specifically, characterises the ymphocytes that either drive or regulate these responses. The main aims or this project were to first map alioreactive T-helper cell epitopes and secondly to clone using a novel method, IL-10 secreting blood group specific regulatory cells. The work focussed on two major antigens, the kell (K) 1 and Rhesus (Rh) D antigens.

The clinical significance of ABO blood group is evident and universally accepted with regards to blood transfusion and pregnancy; however, the importance of ABO blood group as it relates to other diseases or disorders and overall mortality is not fully understood by the scientific community. Many studies have suggested associations between blood groups and disease, but consensus has not been reached regarding overall survival or longevity. This epidemiological, retrospective review of ABO blood group and age at the time of death in a hospitalized population in the Southeastern United States is the first multi-site study to examine this relationship. The study population was 56% male, 63.4% White, 31.0% Black and 2.1% Hispanic. Over half (61.1%) of the population had been transfused with red blood cells within one year of death. Overall, group O (46.6%) was the most prevalent ABO blood group, followed by group A (36.8%), Group B (12.9%) and group AB (3.7%). The population exhibited differences in the frequencies of ABO blood groups across the races, with the Hispanic population having the highest prevalence of group O (71.2%) and the Black and Asian populations having higher frequencies of group B (22.2% and 23.1% respectively) when compared to the overall population distribution. Lifespan ranged from 0 to 110 with a mean age at death of 58.7 years. While some differences in the mean age at death were noted across ABO blood groups, the main effect of ABO blood group on lifespan did not reach statistical significance when controlling for race, gender and history of red blood cell transfusion. These results contradict other studies that found an association between a particular ABO blood group and lifespan. Future work should consider including cause of death or primary disease as potential confounders and targeting expanded populations over a wider geographic area to increase generalizability and racial diversity.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 255-300).