Vaterschaftsfragen

Studies are reported on an individual agglutinogen (Rh) in human blood which has been found to be of clinical importance because occasionally it gives rise to the formation of immune isoantibodies in man, a peculiarity which leads to untoward transfusion reactions. A method for the determination of the presence or absence of the new blood factor is described, which can be used for typing patients and prospective blood donors. Examination of families showed that the agglutinogen is inherited as a simple Mendelian dominant. The distribution of the factor Rh among white individuals and negroes may indicate racial differences. The property is probably genetically independent of the blood groups and the factors M and N.

The heredity of two agglutinable structures demonstrable by immune agglutinins was studied in 166 families. From the data collected it is evident that one deals with a case of Mendelian inheritance. The main result of the studies is the demonstration that it is feasible to investigate the heredity of serological structures of human blood other than the group agglutinogens. Irrespective of the ultimate theory it seems very probable that the properties M and N do not appear in the offspring when they are absent in both parents—a conclusion substantiated by the examination of ten families with 46 children. These findings offer the prospect of forensic application to cases of disputed paternity and, in our opinion, a correct decision could already be given, at least with great probability, provided the reagents are available and the method properly applied. Of course further work is needed before the test can be adopted as a routine procedure.