Title: rhesus factor
Long Title: IUPAC Gold Book - rhesus factor
DOI: 10.1351/goldbook.11185
Status: current

Definition
Antigen that occurs on the red blood cells of about 85 per cent of humans and can cause hemolytic disease of the newborn (erythroblastosis fetalis) and hemolytic transfusion reactions.

Note
The Rh factor was first identified in the blood of a rhesus monkey.

Related Term
- hemolytic disease of the newborn: https://goldbook.iupac.org//terms/view/10792

Source
- PAC, 2016, 88, 713. 'Glossary of terms used in developmental and reproductive toxicology (IUPAC Recommendations 2016)' on page 801 (https://doi.org/10.1515/pac-2015-1202)

Other Outputs
- html: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11185/html
- json: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11185/json
- xml: https://goldbook.iupac.org/terms/view/11185/xml

Citation: Citation: 'rhesus factor' in IUPAC Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 5th ed. International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry; 2025. Online version 5.0.0, 2025. 10.1351/goldbook.11185
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Accessed: 2026-04-18T14:57:52+00:00