ABO blood group distributions in multiple sclerosis patients from Basque Country; O- as a protective factor

Itziar Lopetegi; Amaia Muñoz-Lopetegi; Maialen Arruti; Alvaro Prada; Sabin Urcelay; Javier Olascoaga; David Otaegui; Tamara Castillo-Triviño

doi:10.1177/2055217319888957

ABO blood group distributions in multiple sclerosis patients from Basque Country; O^- as a protective factor

Mult Scler J Exp Transl Clin. 2019 Nov 15;5(4):2055217319888957. doi: 10.1177/2055217319888957. eCollection 2019 Oct-Dec.

Authors

Itziar Lopetegi¹, Amaia Muñoz-Lopetegi, Maialen Arruti², Alvaro Prada³, Sabin Urcelay⁴, Javier Olascoaga¹, David Otaegui¹, Tamara Castillo-Triviño¹

Affiliations

¹ Multiple sclerosis Group, Biodonostia Health Research Institute, Spain.
² Neurology department, Hospital Universitario Donostia, Spain.
³ Immunology Department, Hospital Universitario Donostia, Spain.
⁴ Basque center for transfusion and human tissues, Spain.

Abstract

Background: The relation between ABO/Rh groups and multiple sclerosis (MS) has been proposed in several studies, however there is a controversy about the role of these groups in the disease. Although it has been reported that some groups can be protective or risk factors, there is no consensus and discordant reports can be found in the literature.

Objectives and methodology: In this short report, we analyze the ABO/Rh distribution in a MS cohort of 265 patients and compare these frequencies with the results obtained from the Basque Blood Donors bank (17,796 individuals) of the same region.

Results and conclusions: From our data, the absence of immune antigens (A, B or Rhesus +) defined by the group O- seems to be protective in the MS group with an odds ratio of 0.49 (95% confidence interval 0.309-0.796), while the presence of Rh+ plus A or B seems to be a risk in developing multiple sclerosis.

Keywords: Biomarkers; genetics; immunology; multiple sclerosis.