"To this day, no one knows my blood type, because in all the forms from childhood to adulthood, I have filled in the blood type red!"
This is a joke about blood type, in fact, many people should have had a similar experience, after all, when they were young, they did not know much about what blood type was.
Now we usually talk about blood type A or type B blood or other blood types and so on, and we know that there is a very rare blood called "panda blood".
But have you ever wondered the question: Do animals also have blood types like humans? If so, can their blood be transfused to humans?
To know if an animal has a blood type like a human's, you must know how the blood type is defined and what the differences are between different blood types.
Blood and blood type
We know that blood is composed of plasma and blood cells, and plasma usually contains various nutrients such as plasma proteins and lipoproteins, as well as inorganic salts, oxygen, hormones, enzymes, etc. There are three types of blood cells, namely red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Mammalian blood has a coagulation mechanism, when the blood vessel ruptures, platelets will accumulate, blocking the rupture of the blood vessel, at this time the original water-soluble blood fibrin in the blood will be clots, the remaining transparent liquid in the plasma is called serum.
Blood grouping is only related to erythrocytes, based on whether there are certain heritable antigens on the surface of the red blood cells and what antibodies can be produced in its serum.
For example, if there is an A-type antigen on the surface of red blood cells, the blood in the serum that can produce B-type antibodies is type A blood; otherwise, it is B-type blood.
Pictured: ABO Blood Group System
People with type AB blood have both type A and type B antigens on the surface of their red blood cells, and they produce neither type A antibodies nor B antibodies in their serum.
People with blood type O do not have A and B antigens on the surface of red blood cells, and their serum produces antibodies to both A and B antigens.
We all know that the blood type must be matched when transfusing blood to a patient, in fact, it is to ensure that the patient's serum does not produce antibodies to the input blood.
The four blood types A, B, AB, and O rely on A antigens and B antigens to interact with each other, and they together form the ABO blood group system.
Similarly, the Rh blood group system is divided according to whether the surface of the red blood cell has Rh antigen, and there are only two blood types in this blood group system. Those on the surface of erythrocytes with Rh antigens are called Rh-positive, denoted as Rh+, and those without Rh antigens are called Rh-negative, which is denoted as Rh- (i.e., panda blood). ABO blood group system and Rh blood group system is the most important and most related blood group system to blood transfusion, generally combined with the two, such as A type A rh positive is indicated as A+. In addition to ABO blood type and Rh blood type, there are other types of blood group systems in humans, such as the P blood group system, the Mumbai blood group system, and the Yoneda fort blood group system.
Whether the animal has a blood type
Since blood types are only distinguished by antigens on the surface of erythrocytes, and not by certain genes unique to humans, animals may also have blood types.
In fact, animals do have blood types, and although they don't care about their own blood type, we sometimes have to take this into account when treating animals.
At present, our understanding of animal blood is mainly focused on animals that have been domesticated such as dogs, cats, sheep, etc., because they are injured or sick if they are obliged to rescue.
In the case of dogs, they have more than 8 antigens that can be attached to red blood cells, most of which are labeled as dog red blood cell antigens (DEAs), denoted as DAE1.1, 1.2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Individuals in a particular breed usually have the same blood type, for example, 60% of Lingti dogs belong to the DEA1.1 negative blood type, which is also the common blood type of dogs.
A new blood type, the Dahl blood type, has also been found in the Dalmatian, which seems to be unique to them and not available in other dog breeds.
Cats may contain only two antigens: A and B (unlike humans), and they do not have a common blood type, but the vast majority of domestic cats have type A blood.
And, interestingly, purebred cats usually belong to blood type B. Blood type AB may also be present in cats, but this is quite rare.
There are 8 major blood types in horses, of which A, C, D, K, P, Q, and U are already internationally recognized, and the 8th is still under study.
Unlike humans, horses do not naturally produce antibodies against red blood cell antigens that they do not possess, and an immune response may only occur when their blood is somehow exposed to different blood.
It is worth mentioning that the RH antigen in our humans is also called rhesus monkey factor, which is exactly the same as the protein on the red blood cells of rhesus monkeys.
Whether an animal's blood can be transfused to a human
The act of transfusing the blood of non-human animals to humans is called xenotransfusion, and xenotransfusion has long been practiced in human society, mainly using the blood of lambs.
On June 15, 1667, two French doctors performed the first recorded xenotransfusion in human history, when they introduced blood from the carotid artery of a sheep into the meridians of the inner elbow of a 15-year-old boy, and the operation was finally successful.
On 24 June, the two men gave a similar blood transfusion to a Swedish nobleman, before which the patient lost his speech function and after the transfusion he began to be able to speak with his mouth open.
After the operation, the Swede's health continued to improve, but then his condition deteriorated again. The second blood transfusion was unsuccessful, and the patient eventually died.
Pictured: The first comic in which a xenotransfusion is taken
In November of the same year, British doctor Richard also underwent a blood transfusion, and he successfully transfused the blood of a lamb to a 22-year-old man.
Although the technology at the time was not enough to judge the similarity of blood types between sheep and humans, these real-life examples did give people hope for xenotransfusions.
We know that human blood reserves are inadequate, and scientists are also trying to find ways to obtain suitable human blood from other animals.
Some scientists have found that pig red blood cells (pig red blood cells, or pRBCs for short) have very similar characteristics to human red blood cells.
These similarities include the size of cells and the longevity of cells, and there is evidence that PRBCs can survive normally in humans.
In addition, humans can genetically modify pigs to make their blood more compatible with humans. Using only 10% of their blood volume at a time will not affect their health.
Therefore, the practice of raising pigs to collect blood regularly is feasible, and in any way, it is a major breakthrough in the scientific community and the medical community.
Xenotransfusion is to some extent a "symbiotic relationship", which means that we humans need to consider the relationship between humans and animals more carefully.
At last
There is actually an unpopular knowledge about blood type, and there are some data that may not be recognized by the mass media, showing that people with blood type O are more immune and have a lower chance of developing infectious diseases, followed by type B and AB, and the highest type A.
Of course, there are many rumors about blood type and physical fitness, and maybe there is indeed some kind of connection between the two, but it is definitely not very big.
If you want to be better, the only way to do it is to have good living habits and exercise regularly.