Immunoglobulin anti-D is a blood product made from human plasma. Plasma is the liquid part of blood which contains multiple proteins including immunoglobulins, produced by white blood cells (leukocytes) which attack and destroy any foreign organism (including germs, blood cells and proteins) which enter our bodies.
Through complex manufacturing techniques, it is possible to separate and concentrate specific immunoglobulins in order to use them to treat or prevent illness.
The anti-Rh(D) immunoglobulin is obtained from human plasma, collected by plasmapheresis, from many Rh-negative donors, who have developed antibodies targeted at Rh-positive red blood cells, as a result of having come into contact with Rh-positive red blood cells following pregnancy or transfusion. It can also be produced, with the consent of the donor, by repeated injections of small quantities of Rh-positive blood.
Although it is customary to call this process “vaccination”, in reality it isn’t. The difference with vaccines – which make the body actively manufacture antibodies, resulting in long-term protection – is that anti-Rh(D) immunoglobulin is a passive antibody which only avoids immunisation, in that a new dose needs to be administered every time the patient is exposed to Rh-positive blood.
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