Distribution of ABO/Rh blood groups and their association with hepatitis B virus infection in 3.8 million Chinese adults: A population‐based cross‐sectional study

Abstract

ABO and Rh blood groups play a vital role in blood transfusion safety and clinical practice and are thought to be linked with disease susceptibility. The results from previous studies that focused on the association between blood groups and HBV infection remain controversial. China has the world's largest burden of HBV infection. We assessed the distribution of ABO/Rh blood groups in Chinese adults and examined the association between these groups and HBV infection. We did a nationwide cross-sectional study using data from a physical check-up programme from 31 provinces examined between 2010 and 2012. ELISA was used to test for HBsAg in serologic samples. Multivariable logistic regression was used to estimate aOR of the association between ABO and Rh blood groups and HBV infection. Among 3 827 125 participants, the proportion of participants with blood group A was highest (30.54%), followed by O (30.37%), B (29.42%) and AB (9.66%). A total of 38 907 (1.02%) were Rh-D negative. The prevalence of HBsAg in blood groups O, A, B and AB were 6.34%, 5.55%, 5.18% and 5.06%, respectively. HBsAg prevalence was 5.65% in Rh-D-positive and 3.96% in Rh-D-negative participants. After controlling for other potential risk factors, multivariate models showed that participants with blood group O (adjusted OR = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.20-1.25) were at higher risk of HBV infection compared with group AB. Rh-D-positive participants (adjusted OR = 1.44, 95% CI: 1.37-1.52) were at higher risk of HBV infection than Rh-D-negative participants. The associations between ABO/Rh blood groups and HBV infection were similar in subgroup analysis. The proportions of O, A, B and AB blood groups were approximately 3:3:3:1, and nearly 1 in 100 people was Rh-D negative among Chinese adults. Blood group O and Rh-D positivity were both associated with increased HBV infection. The risk of HBV infection and blood safety should be taken into consideration in clinical practice, especially when transfusing those with blood group O. Awareness and prevention of HBV infection is of particular importance for individuals with blood group O.

Association of ABO blood groups with SARS-COV-2 infection

“…To understand the effect of blood group antigens on virus pathogenicity, we performed a statistical analysis for blood type data of COVID19 patients and asymptomatic carriers. Based on existing literature, the proportion of blood group A was highest (30.54%), followed by O (30.37%), B (29.42%) and AB (9.66%) among 3.8 million Chinese [16].In contrast, the proportion of blood group distribution of all SARS-COV-2 infected cases was basically consistent with these data( Table 2). We found that patients with blood type A occupied the mainly proportion among COVID19 patients, while individuals with blood type B accounted for 50% in asymptomatic Group (Table 3).…”

“…In addition, the research related to ABO blood group antigen and virus infection is also very extensive, such as Norovirus, E-B virus, HBV, HIV, in uenza virus [5][6][7][8][9][10]. Most common respiratory virus infections are characterized by family clustering, which may be related to the transmission mechanism of the virus itself, but it also suggests that genetic factors may affect the disease [11].…”

The Prevalence of Transfusion-Transmitted Infections (TTIs) and Distribution Pattern of ABO Rh Blood Group in Blood Donors and Possible Correlation of TTIs with ABO and Rh Blood Groups – A Study at RBTC (North-West) Delhi

“…Blood group O and Rh-D positivity were both associated with increased HBV infection as reported by Liu et al 6 In our study, we found O-positive donors had the highest percentage of HCV reactivity (0.37%). This is in concordance with reports of Behal et al 7 who also reported the highest HCV reactivity of 0.42% in O-positive donors and lowest reactivity in AB-positive blood donors (0.04%).…”

Association between the phenotype of the blood group system AB0 and Leukemia.

“…However, despite this variation, blood group 0 has been reported as the most frequent in as great part of these studies, being the most common blood group in Latin populations. In contrast, the AB blood group has continually been described as the least frequent in the majority of human populations [13,14]. In this study, we found a distribution O>A>B>AB, blood groups coinciding with the distributions reported in studies conducted in Mexico [15,16]; similarly, they coincide with distributions reported in populations of Nigeria and Iraq [13,17], contrasting slightly with studies performed in Latin populations of other countries, where distributions are reported of A>0>B>AB [18].…”

“…Similarly, more cases were reported that expected of CML in patients with blood groups B and CLL in persons with blood group 0, as reported by Wolpin [24][25][26][27]. In this regard, this investigation is added to all of those in which were found an association of the AB0 blood system with different pathologies, such as cardiovascular disease, familial hypercholesterolemia, and hepatitis B virus infection, or a worse diagnosis in diseases such as urothelial carcinoma of the gall bladder [14,[28][29][30], on contrasting our results with those of investigations that did not report an association of the AB0 system with pathologies such as nasal polyposis, endometriosis, and osteoporosis [4,[31][32][33]. The clinical importance of the systems of blood groups currently extends beyond Transfusional Medicine.…”