Relationship Between ABO Blood Groups and Mental Disorders

J Blood Med. 2025 Jan 3:16:1-5. doi: 10.2147/JBM.S470340. eCollection 2025.

Abstract

Previous research has unveiled an intriguing positive association between the AB blood group and mental disorders in general. In this study, we compared ABO blood groups with five major groups of mental disorders to attain a higher level of specificity. The analyses were conducted using data from the CoLaus|PsyCoLaus study (N=5111). They revealed that the AB blood group exhibited a positive association with both neurodevelopmental disorders (RR 2.29, CI 1.38-3.82) and substance use disorders (RR 2.25, CI 1.38-3.65) after adjusting for sex and childhood adversities. These associations could be replicated with respect to the familial aggregation of neurodevelopmental and substance use disorders. Large databases are needed to achieve more detailed results related to specific disorders.

Keywords: ABO blood groups; familial aggregation; neurodevelopmental disorders; substance use disorders.

Plain language summary

Prior research has shown an interesting link between the AB blood group and mental disorders. In our study, we used data from a large Swiss population-based epidemiological cohort study to learn more about this connection. We examined the relationship between ABO blood groups and five major groups of mental disorders: neurodevelopmental, early onset anxiety, later onset anxiety, mood, and substance use disorders. Our analyses revealed associations between the AB blood group and neurodevelopmental and substance use disorders. The findings point to an unknown immunological mechanism that may play a role in the development of neurodevelopmental and substance use disorders.

Grants and funding

The PsyCoLaus study is supported by research grants from GlaxoSmithKline, the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne, and the Swiss National Science Foundation (grants 3200B0–105993, 3200B0-118308, 33CSCO-122661, 33CS30-139468, 33CS30-148401 and 33CS30-177535/1).