Association between hematological malignancies with decreased red cell A and B antigens and decreased I antigen expression level

Abstract

Decreased red cell A and B antigen expression levels are observed in some hematological malignancies, including acute leukemia. Expression dynamics of I antigens that reside in the subterminal portions of oligosaccharides converted to A, B, and H antigens were analyzed by flow cytometry (FCM) to differentiate from decreased A and B antigen expression levels due to serovars or chimera. We statistically compared I antigen expression level and fluorescence intensity between hematological and nonhematological malignancies with decreased A and B antigen expression levels. Results showed that the I antigen expression level was significantly low for only hematological malignancies. Thus, analysis of I antigen by FCM is more likely to differentiate decreased red cell A and B antigen expression levels due to hematological malignancies from a congenital variant blood type.