Dispermic chimerism identified during blood group determination and HLA typing

Chimerism is the presence of two or more genetically distinct cell populations in one organism.

We report the identification of dispermic chimerism in a 19-year-old female volunteer blood donor. During routine ABO blood grouping strong reactions of the blood donors red blood cells (RBCs) with anti-A reagents and mixed-field reactions with anti-B reagents were observed, while serum-testing showed the absence of anti-A and anti-B antibodies. AB0 blood group genotyping, HLA-typing and microsatellite analysis were performed using blood-samples, buccal mucosa and fibroblasts of the blood-donor and blood-samples of her parents.

AB0 blood group genotyping showed three ABO blood group alleles (0(1), A(2) and B) in the DNA-samples of the blood-donor. The evidence of chimerism was supported by the detection of three alleles for the HLA-A and HLA-DRB1 loci. Microsatellite analysis with ten markers revealed three alleles for loci D7S821 and D19S412. All studies carried out, the third allele was always of paternal origin. CONCLISION: The results suggested a case of a human dispermic chimerism. Our proposed explanation for the development of chimerism in the reported case is the fertilization of an oocyte and the corresponding second polar body by two different sperms.