Multiple Choice
When searching for a donor for an organ transplant, doctors try to match the __________ of the donor and recipient as closely as possible.
41. Immune System
Adaptive Immunity
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How do antibodies to foreign blood groups come to exist in the body?
A
The antibodies form when a fetus is exposed to its mother's blood late in pregnancy.
B
This phenomenon cannot be explained.
C
Even very limited exposure to the blood of another person can evoke the production of antibodies.
D
They are part of innate immunity and exist at birth.
E
The antibodies arise in response to bacterial inhabitants of the body that have epitopes very similar to blood groups and antigens.
Verified step by step guidance1
Understand that antibodies are proteins produced by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects like bacteria and viruses.
Recognize that blood group antigens are specific molecules present on the surface of red blood cells, and they vary between different blood types.
Learn that the body can produce antibodies against foreign blood group antigens if it recognizes them as non-self, which can happen through exposure to similar antigens.
Realize that certain bacteria in the body have epitopes (specific parts of an antigen that antibodies bind to) that are structurally similar to blood group antigens.
Conclude that the immune system may produce antibodies against these bacterial epitopes, which can also react with similar blood group antigens, leading to the presence of these antibodies in the body.
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