Lutheran antigen system

The Lutheran antigen systems is a classification of human blood based on the presence of substances called Lutheran antigens on the surfaces of red blood cells.

[2][3][4][5] All of these antigens arise from variations in a gene called BCAM (basal cell adhesion molecule).

The system is based on the expression of two codominant alleles, designated Lua and Lub.

The antigens Aua and Aub, known as the Auberger antigens, were once thought to make up a separate blood group but were later shown to be Lutheran antigens arising from variations in the BCAM gene.

Though present in the fetus, it is seldom the cause of erythroblastosis fetalis or of transfusion reactions.

Physician Mary N. Crawford worked at the Serum Exchange of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia , where, in 1962, she discovered that she was one of a few people in the world with the rare blood type Lu (a−b−) and that her blood might be donated to a patient in Great Britain.
Interpretation of antibody panel to detect patient antibodies towards the most relevant human blood group systems , including Lutheran.