Human ABO Blood Groups and Their Associations with Different Diseases

INTRODUCTION: Human ABO blood type antigens exhibit alternative phenotypes and genetically derived glycoconjugate structures that are located on the red cell surface which play an active role in the cells' physiology and pathology. Associations between the blood type and disease have been studied since the early 1900s when researchers determined that antibodies and antigens are inherited. However, due to lack of antigens of some blood groups, there have been some contentious issues with the association between the ABO blood group and vulnerability to certain infectious and noninfectious diseases. OBJECTIVE: To review different literatures that show the association between ABO blood groups and different diseases. METHOD: Original, adequate, and recent articles on the same field were researched, and the researcher conducted a comprehensive review on this topic. Thus, taking out critical discussions, not only a descriptive summary of the topic but also contradictory ideas were fully retrieved and presented in a clear impression. In addition, some relevant scientific papers published in previous years were included. The article search was performed by matching the terms blood types/groups with a group of terms related to different diseases. The articles were screened and selected based on the title and abstract presented. RESULTS: The susceptibility to various diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, infections and hematologic disorders, cognitive disorders, circulatory diseases, metabolic diseases, and malaria, has been linked with ABO blood groups. Moreover, blood group AB individuals were found to be susceptible to an increased risk of cognitive impairment which was independent of geographic region, age, race, and gender. Disorders such as hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, cardiovascular disease (CVD), and diabetes were also more prevalent in individuals with cognitive impairment. Early etiological studies indicated that blood type O has a connection with increased incidence of cholera, plague, tuberculosis infections, and mumps, whereas blood type A is linked with increased incidence of smallpox and Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection; blood type B is also associated with increased incidence of gonorrhea, tuberculosis, and Streptococcus pneumoniae, E. coli, and salmonella infections; and blood type AB is associated with increased incidence of smallpox and E. coli and salmonella infections. Diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, arterial hypertension, and family history for ischemic heart disease are the most common risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and can be genetically transmitted to offspring. Higher incidence of cancers in the stomach, ovaries, salivary glands, cervix, uterus, and colon/rectum was common in blood type A people than in O type people. The link between the ABO blood type and thromboembolic diseases and bleeding risk are intervened by the glycosyltransferase activity and plasma levels and biologic activity of vWF (Von Willebrand factor), a carrier protein for coagulation factor VIII which is low in O type. CONCLUSION: Several studies related to the ABO phenotype show that genetically determined human ABO blood groups were correspondingly linked with an increased risk of various infectious and noninfectious diseases. However, further investigations are needed particularly on the molecular level of ABO blood groups and their association with various diseases.