Rhesus (Rh) factor is a protein found on the surface of red blood cells. Like the blood types A, B, and O, Rh factor is inherited from one's parents. A simple blood test can determine its presence as either Rh-positive or Rh-negative in one’s blood. Only the RhD (or D antigen) component of the Rh factor is missing in Rh-negative individuals.
During a blood transfusion, the Rh factor must also match as when different it can as well invoke an immune attack. Rh-positive is the most common blood type. About 85 percent of the population is Rh-positive, which sometimes makes it difficult for Rh-negative people in need of transfusions to find a match.
Although Rh factor does not affect one’s health, in women it can cause “mother-fetus-incompatibility” condition during their pregnancy. This problem usually does not occur in a first pregnancy, but they can occur in a later pregnancy as the Rh-negative mother with a Rh-positive fetus can make antibodies against it which could be fatal for the baby.
Besides its role in blood transfusion, the Rh factor, specifically the D antigen, determines the risk of development of hemolytic disease in the newborn as prevention is the best approach to the management of this condition. And also, recently scientists have reported that the RhAG component in Rh factor transports ammonium ions through the cell membrane.
In humans, ammonium, mainly a waste product, becomes toxic at high blood concentrations. So perhaps RhAG helps red blood cells to take up ammonium from the plasma and transport it to organs that detoxify, such as the liver or kidney. This new results may help scientists to understand Rh-deficiency syndrome, a disease in which either RhCE or RhAG are mutated.
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