Role of Plant Based Lectins in Identifying Rare Bombay Blood Group

Background: Lectins are proteins found in a diversity of plants and organisms. They possess the ability to agglutinate erythrocytes with known carbohydrate specificity. Methods: A lectin named Anti H is used in identification of a very rare and important blood group named Bombay blood group is extracted from the plant Ulex europaeus. Our study was done to calculate the prevalence of Bombay blood group in our Indian population using the plant based extract lectin anti H. Blood grouping was done using the tube technique using commercially available antisera. Results: Out of the total 11,512 blood samples collected and analysed, two samples were identified to be Bombay blood group. The prevalence of Bombay blood group in our study is .017%. The prevalence of the Bombay blood group varied slightly among different regions in parts of India. Conclusion: Anti H Lectin helped in identifying Bombay Blood Group which would otherwise have been missed in routine blood grouping. Plant based lectins will perform an important role in the field of transfusion medicine in near future.