News: In a pioneering medical achievement, doctors in Chennai successfully performed a kidney transplant on a patient with the Bombay blood group, using an organ from a donor with a different blood type. The team adapted the Japanese technique of double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) to lower anti-H antibody levels, preventing organ rejection and making an unprecedented transplant possible.
About Bombay Blood Group
- The Bombay blood group (HH) is an extremely rare blood type first identified in Mumbai in 1952 by Y.M. Bhende.
- Unlike common ABO blood types, individuals with this group do not have A, B, or even H antigens.
- Due to the absence of the H antigen, individuals with the Bombay blood group cannot receive blood from any ABO group, including type O.
- They can only receive blood from another Bombay blood group donor, making transfusions and organ transplants highly challenging.
- In Bombay blood group individuals, the gene responsible for making the H antigen is mutated or absent.
- Their immune system produces anti-H antibodies, which means they cannot receive blood from any ABO group, including O blood group, which contains the H antigen.
Why is the Bombay Blood Group Rare?
- It occurs in 1 in 4 million people worldwide.
- The prevalence is higher in India and South Asia, where it is found in about 1 in 10,000 people (especially in Mumbai due to genetic factors).
- It is extremely rare in European populations (about 1 in a million).
