A family showing inheritance of the Inab phenotype

An 86-year-old white American woman was found to have a very rare red cell phenotype, the Inab phenotype. Her cells were Cr(a-), Tc(a-b-c-), Dr(a-), Es(a-), WES(a-b-), and IFC-. Unlike the two other Inab phenotype patients, she has no history of protein-losing enteropathy or any similar intestinal disorder. One of her four siblings also has the Inab phenotype, providing the first evidence that this phenotype may be inherited. Serum inhibitions showed that anit-Cra, -TCa, -Dra, -WESb, and -IFC are partially inhibited by sera from three siblings with the common red cell phenotype but not by serum from the Inab phenotype sibling. The serum of the proposita contained an antibody to a high-frequency antigen that showed characteristics of being a Cromer-related antibody.